Sons of Sparda
by The Night Lord
Summary: Set after DMC2. Dante returns from Hell, only to find that his father's sword has been stolen and a former foe of Sparda returns to get revenge, while Nero is chasing after Dante to make him pay for the massacre at the Order of the Dragon. Please R
1. Let's go all the way to Hell

**This is my first DMC fic, so be nice please. This one takes place after DMC2 and starts up in DMC4. I know DMC4 between 1&2, but for this one, its after the second one. And there may be some things I've missed out from the DMC4 trailer, but most of it is there (hopefully). Anyhow, enjoy**

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"Yeah, let's go all the way to Hell"

Dante revved the throttle on his motorcycle and sped off deeper into Hell. He has just fought a long and difficult battle against first Argosax the Chaos, swiftly followed by the Despair Embodied. Dante had to admit, the Despair Embodied put up one hell of a fight, much better than Argosax. It was lucky for him that Argosax was quick to dispatch. The Despair Embodied was faster than Dante, even when he transformed into his devil form. But Dante was able to sever one of the Despair Embodied's wings, before shooting it in the head with a magically charged Ivory. After finding that the portal to the human world had closed, Dante decided to ride his bike deeper into Hell, trying to find a way out of the place. He hated being in Hell. He had been there a total of three times now, the first to defeat Arkham, who had stolen Dante's father's power. Then Dante was forced to battle his own twin, Vergil, and watched as Vergil fell deeper into the Demon Realm. Then, ten years later, Dante had to venture back into Hell to battle Mundus, the Demon King and now this, fight against Argosax, a third journey into Hell

"They should start reserving me a place here, I keep coming back," Dante muttered to himself

He narrowed his eyes. Up ahead, he could see a bright white light. And he knew what that was. A portal back to the human world. He twisted the throttle more, trying to get more speed out of the motorcycle

"Trish"

The speedometer was off the chart, as Dante fired towards the now closing portal

"Come on, Trish, just a little longer"

He was getting closer, as the portal was getting smaller. Dante tried turning the throttle more, but it was at its limit. He placed his hand on the bike and transferred a bit of his demonic power into the engine, making it fly faster, taking him through portal and back into the human world

Dante slammed on the brakes, as he came to a stop near Devil Never Cry. He got off the bike and smiled, as front door opened and Lucia came outside

"Dante, you've returned"

"Told you I would"

Lucia ran out to him and drew him into a hug. He smiled and hugged her back, as Trish appeared outside

"Trish, thanks for waiting," Dante said as Lucia broke away from him

"You know I would always wait for you"

"I know"

Trish walked over to him and drew him into a bone-crushing hug, but he didn't care, as he breathed in the sweet fragrance of her scent. She smelled so sweet, it was almost intoxicating. After a while, the pair broke apart

"Well, I'm gonna head home and help Matier with a clean up," said Lucia

"Alright then," said Dante, "We'll see you around, Lucia"

"Bye," said Trish

"Enjoy yourselves," Lucia said as she walked away

"Come on and relax," said Trish, "You need it"

"Hell yeah I do," said Dante

He headed inside and went into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and putting his feet up, as Trish came into the kitchen and handed him a beer

"Dante, there's something that's happened"

"What?"

"Someone stole Sparda"

Dante nearly choked on his beer. Although Sparda was his father's name, it was also the name of his father's sword. Dante had retrieved the sword six months earlier while at Mallet Island to fight Mundus

"Say what?"

"Some members of some cult or whatever broke into Devil Never Cry and stole Sparda"

"Do you know who they were?"

"No, I was out at the time, but when I came back, I noticed Sparda was missing and checked the video cameras. They wore a white hooded robe and that's all I know. Oh and there was an insignia of a dragon on their chest"

Dante sighed and shook his head

"Damn, looks like I have to go on a little trip"

"Wait until tomorrow," said Trish, "Here, have another beer"

She took his empty bottle and handed him a full one

"Well, that spoilt my return home," said Dante, "Some bastards stole my father's sword. I am so not happy"

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**I've now split this chapter into two chapters to make it a bit easier. And please review**


	2. The Order of the Dragon

**This is now two chapters to make it easier to read**

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"Nero, you ready?"

A young man with white hair and his right arm bandaged and in a sling turned around to face a young woman with orange hair and wearing ceremonial robes

"Ready as always, Kyrie"

The woman smiled, as Nero adjusted his blue trench coat. He looked over at the altar and saw the High Priest standing before them, as other members of the Order of the Dragon stood nearby

"Well, the ceremony is getting underway, so I better go," said Kyrie

She turned and left, as Nero looked over at the glass cabinets on his far right. There were several along the wall, all holding swords, although there was one sword that stood out from the rest. It was larger than the others and was single-edged, with a red handle. Also, there was a brake-like leverage coming out from the hilt and sitting above the handle. It was Nero's pride and joy, the Red Queen

He tore his eyes away from the sword and looked up at the altar, readjusting his sling for better comfort. He smiled when he saw Kyrie standing next to the altar. He had to admit, she was very beautiful

CRASH!

Everyone looked up, as parts of the glass ceiling rained down on them. But that wasn't all. A man was flying down through the air, his red trench coat spread out around him like a cape. Nero was amazed as the man landed on the altar perfectly, without stumbling or anything

"No way, that's like a forty foot drop" 

BANG!

The High Priest fell down, blood running down his face from a gunshot wound to the head. Kyrie ran down from the altar and stood behind Nero, as the members ran about, opening the cabinets and grabbing their swords

"You know, things like this does make life kinda interesting," said the man as he turned around, "Don't you think?"

Blood was splattered all over his face, as his bright blue eyes lit up from underneath his white hair. He grinned, as the members surrounded him

"Dante," said Nero

"You seriously think you can match me? Show me. Let's play"

Dante jumped down from the altar and drew his own sword. It was a large, five-foot-long sword with a skull's head in place of the hilt. The name Rebellion had been etched into the side of the blade. Dante wiped the blood away from his face, as the members charged him. Dante grinned and kicked a member in the chest, slamming him against the altar, before blocking another member and sending him flying with the motion. Then, he spun around and slashed five members in a row across the stomachs, dropping them. Another member ran in and swung upwards, but Dante leapt into the air and brought Rebellion down overhead, slicing the member into complete halves. Two more members ran in, as Dante straightened. He dodged their swords, allowing them to stab each other, before stepping away from the bodies. He was still smiling as another two more members joined the fight. Dante whipped out his twin handguns, Ebony and Ivory, shooting the two members, before back flipping over another member's sword. He shot the member, as he landed on the altar and putting his handguns away. Dante smiled and fixed up his attire, which consisted of a red trench coat over red leather pants, cowboy boots, a red vest and black shirt

"What are you doing here, Dante?" demanded Nero

"There is something you have that I want"

"And what's that?"

"You should know. You're part of this Order, aren't you?"

"Yes"

"Then you should know what you have that I want. You stole it from me by breaking into my shop while my girl was out. And now I want it back. It doesn't belong to you"

"You don't belong here. You have no right to come here and start killing people"

"Return it to me and I'll let you go"

"How about this!"

Nero ran forward and leapt through the air, his leather boots connecting with Dante's face and knocking him down. Dante rolled onto his knees, before straightening

"You think you can take me on as well? You saw what just happened to your fellow members. Give it to me and I'll let you live"

Nero drew a gun out from his blue trench coat. It was an up and over revolver, with a blue rose carved next to the barrel on both sides

"Try this!"

Nero pulled the trigger. Two bullets shot out of the gun and sped towards the older man, Dante, who drew his sword, Rebellion, and deflected the bullets. He smiled and jumped backwards, flying up about twenty feet through the air, landing on a rafter and smiling at Nero. The younger man ran towards the half-demon and leapt up, as Dante drew Rebellion and slashed the wires behind him, causing Nero to miss his grab. Instead, he fired a bullet, which broke a wire and bringing the rafter back towards him. Using his bandaged arm, Nero pulled himself onto the rafter, before charging towards Dante. He jammed the Blue Rose at his face and fired, but Dante had dodged to the side. Nero brought his revolver around and just missed Dante again, before jamming it into his face. Dante was pushed back by the move, but he grabbed Nero's wrist and pushed the gun away from him, before noticing his bandaged arm

"So, let me guess, it's happened?"

"What?"

"Your arm. It's changing"

"How do you know?"

"Because I do"

Nero swung his arm, throwing Dante off the rafter, but he simply did a back flip. Nero jumped down after him and landed, pointing the Blue Rose at his revolver. But they were at a standoff, Dante having drawn his twin handguns, and crossing his arms over, pointing the twin guns at Nero

"What are you here for?" demanded Nero

"You have the one thing I want"

"And what is that?"

"Why should I bother telling you?"

"Tell me!"

Dante got a thoughtful look on his face

"Hmm…no. You don't seem like you're high up in the Order"

He looked over at what they were standing on and smiled. The white-haired pair were standing on a giant statue of Sparda, the demon who had once fought to save the human race from the demon realm over two thousand years ago. Sparda was also Dante's father and Nero was part of the Order who worshipped Sparda and continue his quest to protect the human race from demons

"Worshippers of my father? You obviously don't know what they're really doing"

"I don't understand. We carry on your father's quest and you come barging in here and killing several of the high order," growled Nero, "Well now I know. Why people like me should send people like you back to hell!"

Nero fired away two shots. Dante leapt towards him, flipping over the bullets, before firing his handguns. Nero dived out of the way, landing on the floor below and turned around, as Dante landed, putting his guns away, turning around and drawing Rebellion. Nero pointed his gun at Dante, as the half-demon placed Rebellion on his shoulder

"Give me the sword of my father"

"We don't have Sparda's sword. I would have known if we had it!"

Dante smiled

"But, of course you don't. Why would they bother telling you these things?"

"What do you want, Dante?!"

"I already told you. Don't tell me you're beginning to become forgetful"

Nero fired a shot, but Dante deflected it with Rebellion, before charging at Nero, holding Rebellion down by his side, as a red streak trailed behind him. Nero dodged the throat slice and stepped around Dante, before rolling away to avoid the overhead chop. Dante whirled around, his eyes glowing red. Nero kicked him in the stomach, before shooting again. Dante deflected the bullets with Rebellion, as Nero kicked at his head. Dante ducked under his leg and stepped back, as Nero fired again. Dante swung Rebellion, just missing Nero's chest, before spinning around and kicking him in the stomach, throwing him back

"Kyrie, the Red Queen," cried Nero

Kyrie had grabbed Nero's sword and threw it at him. He caught it and whirled it around, blocking Dante's strike, as his bandage began to glow

"It's happening," said Dante

He raised Rebellion, as the bandaged exploded off Nero's arm, blinding him. Nero looked down at his arm, but his arm was no longer normal. His fingers now end in claws, while the skin had changed from white to a bright yellow-gold with streaks of red on the inner forearm. And his arm was also glowing supernaturally

"So that's what happened"

"You knew this was going to happen?"

"Of course. It isn't that hard to tell"

Dante grinned, as Nero swung his sword and clashed it against Rebellion. Dante went to push him back, but Nero held his ground and punched with his right hand. A bright light shot out of his hand and slammed into Dante's chest, throwing him back. Nero felt something happening in his arm and the next thing he knew, a hand had appeared at the end of the light and grabbed Dante by the leg. Nero swung his arm and slammed Dante into the ground

The half-demon got to his feet, as Nero ran at him. Dante whirled around and blocked, as another High Priest ran into the room, carrying Sparda. Dante kicked Nero in the chest, as the priest ran at him and swung Sparda

"Oh please, you're embarrassing me. Does holding my father's sword make you think you can fight me?"

Dante blocked Nero and sent him flying with the motion. The priest swung Sparda again, but Dante dodged the blade, before impaling him and taking the sword, as Nero got to his feet

"Thank you so much for your co-operation," said Dante, "Catch you round, brother"

And with that, he transformed. His white hair was spiked up by the vortex of energy, as his body changed into a demonic form and wings sprouted from his back. Dante spread his wings and shot up into the air, before disappearing back through the opening in the glass ceiling. Nero watched him go, as Kyrie joined him

"What's going to happen now?"

"Dante got what he wanted. But he slaughtered many members of the Order. Despite who he is, Dante must pay for his actions"

"What will you do?"

"I will have to chase him down and make him pay. Even if it means killing him"

"But, Dante is the son of Sparda"

"I know, but he must pay. He cannot get away with this. He has the blood of our friends on his hands"

"_Power,"_ said a voice inside Nero's head

"Nero?"

He shook his head, but the voice spoke again, saying the same word

"Power" 

"What?"

"Give me more power!" 

"Who are you?" Nero cried out

"What are you talking about?"

"There is a voice inside my head. It's asking me for power"

Nero shook his head, as Kyrie placed a hand on his shoulder

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. I need to see someone about this"

"You're going?"

"Dante somehow knew this was going to happen. So before I make him pay for what he's done, I'm gonna find out what he knows about my arm"

With that, Nero tucked the Blue Rose and the Red Queen away, before walking away

"Don't worry, Kyrie, I will return"

"I know you will"

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**Please review**


	3. Shower Love

**Be warned, there is a sex scene here between Dante & Trish. Do not read if you are under aged. Skip pass the X's and continue on**

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Dante arrived back at Devil Never Cry and headed inside. Trish was sitting at the desk, reading some newspaper or something. She didn't look up when Dante entered. He took his coat off and placed it silently on the hat stand

"Hi, Dante. You took your time?"

Dante sighed and removed his boots, before taking his vest and gloves off. He placed Rebellion on its stand that was within reach in case demons attacked, before picking up Sparda and sitting on the desk, as Trish looked up

"You mind?"

"I got it back"

"You got the sword? Where was it?"

"At some cathedral. It was ran by a cult called the Order of the Dragon"

"So?"

"Well, from what I gathered before I got the sword, they were planning to open the gateway to the Demon World and get hold of Sparda's powers. With that, they believed they could eradicate any demon and possibly rule the world. So no way I was gonna let that happen"

"You killed…humans?"

"Humans trying to steal demon power. Yes"

"Dante!"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have, but come on, Trish, if they were going to open a gateway to the Demon World, can you imagine what would happen next? It's best I took care of them so it wouldn't happen"

Trish narrowed her eyes at him

"I see your point, but you still shouldn't go around and kill humans. It's not good for the business' image"

"Women," Dante muttered

"What?"

"Nothing. Uh, I think I'll go for a shower. I've got blood in my hair"

"Oh dear, the world's now gonna end. Fine, just don't leave your clothes lying around, alright"

"Yes, okay dear"

He got up from the desk and headed upstairs, as a small smile appeared on Trish's face. Dante reached the second floor and headed for the bathroom, taking his shirt off and dropping it in the hallway, before walking into the bathroom and locking the door. He got undressed and jumped into the shower, before turning it on. He sighed when the hot water struck his body, washing any blood off him. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo and proceeded to wash the blood out of his hair, when he heard the door unlock and swing open

"What the hell?"

He pulled the curtain aside and saw Trish standing in the middle of the room with her back to him. His jaw dropped slightly when she began to get undressed

"Trish, what are you doing?"

She turned her head around slightly and smiled mischievously

"I need to go for a shower as well. I need the break"

"Okay…then. Couldn't you have waited?"

"Nope"

"Ah, right. Well, if you wait a minute, I'll be out"

She turned around completely, but was hiding her private areas with her hands, before stepping through the open space between Dante's arm and the shower curtain. Dante forced himself to close his jaw, before turning around to face the demoness. She removed her hands and placed her arms around his neck, drawing herself close to him, until their bodies were touching together. Dante sighed as he felt his heart beat faster and he placed his arms around her petite waist

"Am I that gorgeous that you couldn't wait for me to get out?"

"You and your ego. No, I was about to go for a shower before you got back, so I might as well go for one while you're here. Saves water"

"Well, I suppose that's true. So, anything interesting gonna happen?"

Trish looked up at him and rolled her eyes

"You men only have one thing on your mind, I swear"

"Do not"

"Really?"

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Dante didn't answer. Instead, he inclined his head and pressed his lips to hers. She moaned and pressed her lips to his, trying to get him closer to her. Dante's tongue slipped into Trish's mouth, as she forced him out and slid her tongue into his mouth, starting up a battle of the tongues, until Dante broke away and began kissing along her jaw, down her throat, across her collarbone and reaching her chest. He flicked his eyes at her face, but her hand came around to the back of his head and pushed him towards her right breast. Dante took the nipple into his mouth and began teasing it, while massaging her left breast. Trish let out a mew of pleasure, as she felt a warm wetness between her legs. Dante felt himself rise as he continued his administrations on Trish's breasts. He broke away from her breasts and straightened, before pressing her against the wall and touching her womanhood. Trish moaned, as Dante's fingers slipped inside her, feeling her juices coat his hand as he pumped his fingers into her

"Oh…Dante, please…don't stop…please…please"

Dante nodded, before removing his fingers and lifting her legs, as she wrapped them around his waist, drawing him closer. Her arms went around his neck, as he held onto her waist, before pushing into her. Trish's mouth was wide open in pleasure, but no sound came out as he pushed all the way into her

"Dante…"

"Shh, it's okay"

"Just do it"

"Alright"

At first, Dante slowly thrust his hips, but then he began to pick up speed, pounding into her, as she moaned with each thrust. Her hands moved from his neck down to his shoulders, as she dug her nails into his skin. Dante ignored the pain and continue thrusting, as Trish drew blood with her nails when she came. As she came down from the height of the climax, Dante's body tensed up and he pressed himself close to Trish as he spilt his seed into her. Slowly, their breathing became easier, as Dante withdrew from Trish and turned the shower off

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Come on, let's go to bed"

Dante and Trish got out of the shower, before drying themselves off and leaving the bathroom. Dante was about to head to his room, but Trish rushed past him and headed into his room. He growled under his breath and walked in, where he found Trish already in his bed, waiting for him

"Steal my bed why don't you?"

"Well, yeah, why not? My bed's broken from us using it"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that"

"How could you forget? You were on the bottom that night"

"That hurt. You shouldn't have going so fast"

Trish narrowed her eyes

"It was your idea and you knew your bed was stronger"

"Yeah, whatever, I'm tired and want to go to sleep"

Dante tossed his towel aside and simply collapsed onto his bed. Trish sighed and turned the light off, before putting her head down on the pillow and instantly frowned when she heard him snoring. Still frowning, she rolled over so her back was to him, before closing her eyes, as a blanket fell upon her. She looked around and saw Dante snuggling under the blanket

"Well, at least he's being somewhat considerate," she thought

Sighing, Trish closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep

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	4. Nelo & Bolverk

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It was the next morning and Dante was laying on his back, spread-eagled across the bed, the blanket covering his modesty, while Trish was lying next to him, the rest of the blanket wrapped tightly around her. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned, before looking at Dante. She smiled, remembering last night. They had only been together for a few months now. It had taken Dante a while to get used to the fact that although Trish look like his mother, she was in truth wasn't. It was something that had annoyed Trish for a while. She had to show Dante that she was completely someone else and not Eva. Once Dante had gotten over that stage, he asked her out on a date, mainly due to the fact Lady had threatened to blackmail him somehow. Trish had asked him what it was about, but he refused to answer. But after their first date, they began going on more dates, until Dante got the nerve to ask her out completely. And when she heard those words, Trish couldn't have felt any happier

Rolling over and yawning, Trish got out of bed, before wrapping the towel around her body and heading back to her room, where she got dressed in a red tank top and faded jeans. She laced up her running shoes, before tying up her hair and heading downstairs; ready to go for her morning run. Just as she reached out to turn the doorknob, the door burst open, throwing her across the room. She struck the desk and fell over it backwards, before falling against the wall. Trish shook her head and looked up. And gasped when a familiar figure stepped into the building. He stood at about six foot one and was wearing dark green armour that had flashes of blue light running along the joints. A royal purple cape hung down from the shoulders, as the figure drew a massive sword and held it by his side, his red eyes flashing. The figure walked closer to Trish, as a dark blue glow appeared around the blade of his sword

"Nelo Angelo"

Nelo Angelo gave no sign he heard her, as his eyes flickered to her left. Trish looked down and saw the Sparda sword lying next to her. Nelo turned slightly and began walking towards the sword, but Trish raised her right hand and shot a blast of gold lightning energy into his chest. Nelo took a couple of steps back, giving Trish enough time to grab Sparda and get to her feet. Nelo raised his right hand, as it began to glow. He grunted, as he threw the energy blast at Trish's head. She dived out of the way and straightened, before swinging Sparda and blocking Nelo's blow. He growled and pushed her back, as Trish twirled Sparda around and got ready

"What the hell is going on here?"

Both Trish and Nelo turned to the doorway, where Dante was standing, wearing his red leather pants and with a sleepy look on his face. He was scratching his hair, but stopped when he focused his eyes properly on Nelo

"Vergil!"

True enough, Nelo Angelo was actually Vergil, Dante's twin brother. They definitely looked alike; except Vergil's skin was paler and his hair had been spiked up

"I thought you were dead," Dante continued

He had to duck suddenly when an energy blast shot his way. Dante headed over to the stand and grabbed Rebellion, before whirling around and pointing it at his possessed twin. Vergil/Nelo looked unfazed at the odds that were against him

"Mind telling us why you are here?"

Vergil didn't answer. Instead, he pointed a finger at Trish

"Well, you're not getting her," said Dante, stepping closer to Trish

"No, I don't think he means by that," said Trish

Dante properly followed Vergil's gaze and saw that he was pointing at Sparda

"You're not getting that either"

The front doorway of Devil Never Cry was suddenly destroyed, as someone else walked into the building. The creature stood at a little over seven foot and was made up of blue skeletal armour. His head was more like a disfigured skull with dull gold eye sockets and mouth. One eye socket was greatly smaller than the other. He too drew a massive sword, as two wolf-like spirits appeared on both sides of him

"Bolverk," growled Dante, "Alright, Trish, you handle him, I'll take care of my bro"

Trish nodded and turned away, cutting down a wolf, as the other wolf lunged at her. She cut it down as well, as Bolverk slashed at her

"So, how did you and Bolverk become great pals?" asked Dante, as he and Vergil circled each other, "Did you realize you both don't like either me or Father?"

Vergil didn't answer, as he raised his glowing sword

"Still a mute, eh? I'm sure I can figure out another way to make you talk"

Vergil swung his sword, Yadujt, but Dante parried and stabbed. Vergil disappeared, as an energy blast shot at Dante. He did a back flip, as a sword-like projectile screamed at him. Dante spun around it, as Vergil came flying out of the air. Yadujt broke through the floorboards, as Dante kicked up his cowboy boots, did a flip and landed perfectly with his boots on

"Showtime"

Vergil appeared in front of Dante and stabbed, as Dante dodged and stabbed as well. Vergil recovered fast, blocking the blow, as Dante stepped back and blocked a high cut, before blocking two more slashes that moved down the body. Dante waited for Vergil to strike, parrying the blow and going for a stab, but Vergil knocked his sword away. Dante held onto Rebellion and twisted his wrists, so the tip was pointing at Vergil's face. Vergil growled and stepped back, before charging at Dante and stabbing. Dante dodged him and swung at his throat, but was blocked

Breaking away, Dante blocked Vergil's torso slash, before stepping back. He blocked a few more of his moves, before pushing against his twin and making him stumble. Vergil spun around and slashed at his head, but Dante dodged and knocked Yadujt away from his face. Vergil began slashing rapidly, but Dante was matching his moves, until they broke away. Dante twirled Rebellion around and brought it down against Yadujt. The twins were at a standoff, until Vergil pushed Dante back and swung high. Dante blocked his blow and spun around, switching positions, as Vergil whirled around and swung at his shoulder. Dante blocked the blow, before matching Vergil's moves, before moving back

"Just like the old times, hey, Verge," grinned Dante, "Just like the old times"

The two swords clashed again, as sparks flew from the blades. Vergil won again, as Dante stabbed at his legs, before swinging at his chest. Vergil jumped back and swung Yadujt, as Dante dodged, before blocking a low slash and doing a spin kick, knocking Vergil back. Dante then brought Rebellion down overhead. Vergil dodged, as Dante pushed off the wall and swung high. Vergil dodged, as Dante swung Rebellion like a baseball bat, just missing Vergil's throat. Vergil slashed, but Dante slid back, before running Rebellion along the floor and swinging it upwards. Vergil blocked him, as Dante pushed hard against his sword. Rage was flooding through his veins as the sparks flew. Dante was furious that someone had forced Vergil to try and kill him again. He wanted to save his twin and when Vergil pushed him away, his rage broke through to the surface, transforming Dante, but it didn't faze Vergil at all

Dante slashed, spun around and slashed again, before stepping forward and doing his Million Stab move. However, Vergil was able to block the blows, as the fight continued. Dante stepped away and spied Ebony lying on the ground. He picked up the handgun and fired several shots, but Vergil reflected the bullets back, forcing Dante to knock them away as they flew at him. Blocking Vergil's chop, Dante saw Ivory lying nearby and broke away, grabbing the black handgun and shooting, this time, dodging the bullets as they came back and spinning around, swinging Rebellion in a wide arc. Vergil jumped back from the arc and stabbed, but Dante blocked him and pointed Rebellion at his throat

"I swear I am going to kill whoever did this to you, Verge"

A phantom sword forced him to step out of the way, as Vergil came at him. Dante blocked, as his devil energy wore out and he broke away, sheathing Rebellion and drawing his handguns, crossing his arms over at Vergil. However, a presence made him whirl around and aim Rebellion at the new company

"Who are you and what do you want?" Dante demanded

The new company raised an eyebrow and smiled. Although he was human looking, he was definitely a demon, as his skin was a reddish colour and his eyes were bright blue. His short black hair was spiked up, while he kept his bat-like wings close to his body and his tail swung lazily from side to side. The demon was wearing very deep red and black armour and was holding a large sword that had spikes jutting out from the blade

"I am Balthazar and I am here to claim a small prize"

Dante raised an eyebrow

"Oh really and what is that"

Balthazar pointed in the direction of Trish, who was still battling against Bolverk, although she had killed the twin wolves. Dante looked back at his opponent

"Let me guess, you want the Sparda sword"

"Indeed"

"Well, you're not having it. I had to kill humans to get that back"

"Well, you can try and kill me to get it back"

Balthazar raised his hand. Dante looked over at Trish, who had been suddenly levitated into the air. She was powerless against it, as Bolverk swung his sword, streaking crimson across the floor

"Trish!"

Trish was thrown against the wall, as Dante lunged at Balthazar. He swung Rebellion, but Sparda appeared in Balthazar's hand, blocking the blow. Dante was lifted into the air, as Balthazar did a spin kick, slamming Dante against the far wall

"Come Bolverk and Vergil, we have a job to do"

Dante got to his feet and tried to transform, but he had used up his energy against Vergil. It just wasn't happening and Balthazar noticed this

"Oh perfect. Guess I arrived at the right time"

"Let me guess, you sent Bolverk and Vergil to weaken us so you could take the sword?"

"Yes, I suppose you're right"

"Damn, I should have seen it coming"

"Oh well, too bad"

Balthazar turned to leave, but a bullet was blasted through his left shoulder. He lost his grip on his spiked sword, which Bolverk picked up for him. Balthazar whirled around and raised his hand at Dante. Waves of gold and red energy flowed from his hand, creating a mini cyclone and hurling it at Dante. The walls and trophies were destroyed, as was most of the building, turning into a massive rumble of brick, wood and metal. Satisfied with his work, Balthazar left with Bolverk and Vergil, leaving Dante to try and dig his way out of the rumble

†††††††††††


	5. Kiss My Ass

†††††††††††

Nero arrived at Devil Never Cry. However, it was not what he expected. The building had been destroyed and the sign 'Devil Never Cry' had been torn down and smashed up. There were several people standing around, held back by police, as firemen rummaged through the wreckage. Nero rolled down his right sleeve to cover up his arm, before realizing he had a massive sword on him. This would be hard to explain

"Bomb!" Nero yelled

"What?" asked a person

"There is a bomb in there! Get away from there!"

"Are you serious?" asked a police officer

"Yes. I saw some guys getting away into a van. One of them had a remote in his hand"

"Everyone, get away from here, now," ordered a police offer

The crowd quickly dispersed, as the police and firemen walked away to discuss what to do next. Keeping an eye on them, Nero hurried over to the wreckage, before rummaging around

"Man, what a drag," said a voice; "Having a fight as soon as you wake up is not cool"

Nero whirled around, as Dante rose up from the wreckage

"Dante!"

Dante spun around, as a gold light shot out from Nero's right arm and grabbed Dante around the throat, before lifting him up

"So, brother, you worked out what your powers are?" asked Dante

"What are you talking about? This appeared after you left. And I am not your brother"

"Whatever. Gonna let me down?"

The Devil Bringer tightened around Dante's throat

"Okay, maybe not. Unless I do this"

Ebony was aimed at Nero's forehead

"You will pay for what you did, Dante," said Nero

"Yeah, I can be hardly blamed for killing some guys who want to take over the world," said Dante, "But that's beside the point"

"What is the point?"

Nero jumped when Dante fired at his foot, making him drop the half-demon. Dante tucked Ebony away, before heading back in to the wreckage and bending over

"Stop there," said Nero, drawing Blue Rose

Dante straightened and turned around, holding an unconscious Trish in his arms

"Freeze"

Dante looked over Nero's shoulder, as a group of police arrived and aimed their guns at them. He rolled his eyes, before looking at Nero

"I don't have time for this"

He walked past Nero and away from the police, before lying Trish down and placing a hand on her wound

"Trish, are you okay?"

Her eyes fluttered open, as she looked at Dante

"Does it look like I'm okay?"

"Great, smart-ass"

"Is she okay?" asked a fireman

"Yeah, don't worry, just leave us"

"Sir, we have to get your names," said a police officer

"Okay. Kiss my ass"

"Excuse me?"

Dante walked away from Trish and headed into the wreckage, before finding a trench coat that hadn't been ripped, grabbed Rebellion and finally taking his motorcycle which miraculously hadn't been destroyed in the mini cyclone and heading back to Trish. He put his trench coat on, sheathed Rebellion, before lifting Trish onto the bike

"I don't have time to answer questions, but thanks for the offer"

He got onto the bike and started it up, before roaring away down the street before the officer could stop him. Nero watched him go, as the police came in to arrest him

"Easy now sir, put the sword down and come quietly"

"Sorry, but I have prior engagements"

Nero ran at an officer and jumped over her, before running away, as the officers opened fire. He fired a few shots back to dissuade them, making his escape on a motorcycle that had been parked in a nearby alley

†††††††††††


	6. Sparda's Death

†††††††††††

A knock came at the door. Lucia got up from the table and answered it, surprised to see Dante standing before her bare-chested, while holding an injured Trish in his arms

"Dante, what happened?"

Dante didn't answer as he walked inside and placed Trish on the lounge

"Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, painkillers?"

Dante smiled before facing Lucia

"What happened?"

"We got attacked by a demon named Balthazar. And he has my brother with him, as well as my father's sword"

"Balthazar, huh?"

"You know him?"

"No, but I've heard the name before"

"Okay, can you look after Trish? I'm gonna get changed"

Lucia nodded, as Dante disappeared upstairs. Trish and Lucia started up a conversation, catching up on the months gone by. They had been talking for just over an hour before Dante returned, now clean-shaven and wearing his black shirt, red vest and trench coat

"So, how's things?" he asked

"Very quiet now that Arius is dead," answered Lucia, "So, your shop is destroyed?"

"Yes. But don't worry; I've got Lady on the clean up. She's going in there and collecting all my weapons I wasn't able to get. Now we have to wait for her to come here"

Another knock came at the door

"That might be her," said Dante, "A little early, but hey, I'm not complaining"

He grinned and opened the door

BLAM!

Dante stumbled back, blood running down his face from a wound in the middle of his forehead, as Nero walked into the house and fired another shot into his chest. Dante stumbled again, but was able to draw Ivory, as Lucia grabbed a couple of throwing daggers and got ready. Nero saw he was outnumbered and lowered the Blue Rose

"Damn it, I had just got changed too," said Dante, "Looks like I have to go and get changed again. Man, what the hell is wrong with you, boy? Stop shooting me. How the hell did you get here anyway?"

"I followed you obviously," answered Nero

"Well, obviously," Dante replied, sneering at his own stupidity, "Okay, what do you want?"

"Don't tell me you're starting to become forgetful"

"Oh real witty, stealing my lines. I should have known you would say that"

"Shut up," said Nero, raising the Blue Rose

Lucia threw a dagger into his right hand, but it didn't deter him. He simply removed the dagger, but it was a bad mistake, as Dante lunged at him and slammed him against the wall, ripping the revolver from his hand, before slamming him onto the floor and pressing his knee into his chest, pinning him down

"Gonna start talking or what?" asked Dante

Nero's right arm glowed, as Dante was lifted up and slammed into the ceiling. Nero flipped onto his feet, as Lucia lunged at him with her cutlaseers, but he drew the Red Queen and blocked her, before using his Devil Bringer to throw her back. A lightning bolt struck him in the chest, knocking him back. Dante gave Trish a look, as he drew Rebellion and pointed it at Nero's chest, as Lucia joined him

"So, Nero, where do you want to stand?" he asked, "Help me out or keep chasing after me until one of us meets the end at the other's hands?"

"I won't help you at all"

"Fine. I can handle that, brother"

"Will you stop calling me brother?"

A third knock came at the door. Trish answered, as Lady came inside, carrying a large bag that had lots of strange lumps and hard bends, as Dante removed the two bullets from his body so the wounds could heal

"Here are your weapons – oh"

"Lady, meet Nero. Nero, meet Lady"

Lady placed the bag down and put her hands on her hips

"What is going on here?"

"Well, Nero here is trying to scalp me"

"You killed several members of the High Order"

"Yeah, those members of the High Order were going to unleash Hell. How do you like that, smarty?"

Nero didn't answer

"Yeah, I didn't think so"

Dante stepped away and sheathed Rebellion

"Let him go, Lucia"

"What?"

"Let him go"

Lucia stepped away, but didn't sheath her cutlaseers, keeping them ready just in case Nero decided to make a move. Luckily for him, he didn't

"So, the High Order wanted to unleash Hell onto Earth?" he asked

"Not really. They wanted Sparda's powers, but I have seen what that can do to a person. It will drive them insane and they will want to rule the world"

"Oh yeah, wasn't that fun?" muttered Lady

"Are you telling the truth?"

Dante shrugged

"Maybe"

"Right"

Nero relaxed slightly

"Now, why are you calling me brother?"

"Because you are my brother"

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you're my little bro. I'm older than you by about four years"

"You can't be serious"

"Well, I can see the resemblance," said Lady, "As well as the lack of brains"

"Oh shut up, Lady," said Trish, as she checked her stomach, "Hmm, all healed"

"I guess you're not human?" said Nero

"No, I'm a demon"

"Okay then. So, Dante, how are we brothers?"

"Want me to tell you the truth"

"Er, how about you tell me our links"

"Okay, you are a son of Sparda. When you were five, a demon kidnapped you and injected something into you. I think it took away most of your natural powers, but it created that Devil Bringer arm"

"I was kidnapped when I was five?"

"Yeah, I don't think you would remember it. Anyhow, Father went out and battled the demon and brought you back. But see, Dad was human then and fighting the demon was difficult. He had defeated the demon, but he suffered a mortal blow"

Dante walked away and sat down on the couch

"Dad brought you back, but he died a few hours later. Another few hours later and Mother was killed by demons. That's how we got split up. Vergil was taken by the demons and I was left on my own. I didn't know what happened to you, because we got separate and as for Celeste, as far as I know, she's dead"

"Who's Celeste?" asked Lucia

"She's my little sister, Nero's younger twin sister"

"I have a twin sister?"

"You did have a twin sister. She died that fateful night"

"Kyrie told me the Order adopted me after I was found wondering around as a child"

"I guess the demons kidnapped you as well, but you somehow managed to get away. And they would have taken you in, as you were a son of Sparda and you would have been worthy to their cause. Somehow"

"Wow, I guess we really are brothers. But that's doesn't change anything between us"

"Fine, suit yourself. They may have been your friends, but if they still had Sparda's sword, they would have taken his power and turn this place into demonsville. What would you have done then? You would have had to kill them. So be happy I saved you that horrible fate, because there's nothing worse than killing your friends"

Nero was about to protest, but he decided to think about what Dante had said. If that was true, then he would have been forced to kill his friends. And if Kyrie had been turned into a demon, what would he have done then? He didn't want to think about it

"Then I guess I was mistaken about you, Dante"

He looked at Dante, but Dante wasn't paying attention. His thoughts were on that fateful night many years ago. And then his thoughts shifted to his twin. Nero tried a different tactic to get Dante talking

"So, what happened to Vergil?"

"He's being mind controlled to fight against us"

"Say what?"

"We have to save Vergil from Balthazar's hold"

†††††††††††


	7. Temen ni gru

†††††††††††

Dante got up from the couch and headed over to Lady, before taking the bag from her and opening it

"Ah, hello Ifrit"

He removed the fire gauntlets from the bag and slipped them on, as they were absorbed into his body. Dante rummaged through the bag again and drew out a pale blue sanchaku that had a chilling mist emitting from them

"Cerberus, I'll take you"

He tucked it away under his trench coat, before taking out a shotgun

"Oh yeah, shotguns are the best"

"They are?" asked Lady

"A lot easier than the rocket launcher of yours. A lot quicker too"

"That rocket launcher has saved your life more than once"

"Yeah, whenever you weren't shooting rockets at me"

Dante continued rummaging in the bag, until he drew out a pair of scimitars. One scimitar was a reddish-orange, while the other was a deep blue. He looked up at Nero

"You want them?"

"What are they?"

"Agni and Rudra. Wind and fire. Want them?"

"Not really. I don't use my right arm as a sword arm"

"Okay, Lady, you want them for now?"

"I'll take them"

"What's this, a new master?" asked a voice

"Hey, who said you could talk?" Dante asked the scimitars

A small pause

"Good"

Dante chucked the scimitars to Lady, as Trish sat up

"What can I have now that Balthazar has Sparda?"

"Ah, how about Alastor?"

Dante held up a large sword that had lightning running up and down the blade

"Can't forget this sword, can you?"

"No, of course not"

Trish took Alastor, as Dante began to zip up the bag, but a woman with lilac skin and long, flowing orange-red hair appeared out of the bag, making Nero jump in surprise. He did a double take when he saw that the woman's lower body was covered in a dress of bats, while her upper body was covered with just her hair

"Aren't you going to take me, sugar?" the woman asked in a sultry, enticing voice

"Uh, well, Nevan, that would be a little hard, as I've got Rebellion and Cerberus on me, but I could try"

"I could just go with you"

Dante gave her a small smile

"Uh, I'm taken already," he said, glancing at Trish, before looking back at the succubus, "But I guess you could come along"

"Wonderful. Oh, sugar, who is this cherry pie?" Nevan asked, looking at Nero

He suddenly got a bashful look, as Nevan sidled up to him and press him against the wall, before running a finger down his face

"He looks handsome"

"I thought I was handsome," said Dante, "But anyhow, that's my kid brother, Nero"

"Such a handsome face," Nevan purred

"Come on, Nevan, leave the kid alone," said Lady, "We've got work to day"

Nevan gave Nero a sly smile as she turned away

"Maybe later, I could show you something you never knew about"

"Say what? Uh, sorry, but I can't do that at all"

"Someone else in your life?"

"What? No, no, no…not really"

"Nevan," said Dante

BOOM!!

Half of the wall was blasted away, as Dante and Trish hit the floor

"Who the hell is shooting at my house?" asked Lucia

She headed over to the new opening in the wall cautiously, before ducking as a rocket flew overhead. It flew into the kitchen and exploded, bursting the pipes and spraying water everywhere

"Oh great," cried Dante, "Lucia, what is happening?"

"Infested Tank"

"Say what?"

"Exactly what I said"

She crawled away from the hole and joined the pair

"How the hell did Infested get here?" Dante asked

"You just answered your question," said Nero, "Hell"

"Balthazar opened that place already?"

"No. He might have opened a smaller portal that can allow demons out, but not anyone into Hell. He's trying to buy himself time," said Trish

"Time is something that's gonna run out for him," growled Dante

He got to his feet and drew Rebellion, before heading over to the opening

"Hey, you, Infested Tank, yeah you. Whoa, don't point that at me. Oh damn"

Dante dived out of the way as another rocket blasted through the house

"If this keeps up, I won't have a house left," said Lucia, "And I just rebuilt it too"

"Lady, you got Kalina Ann on you?"

Lady unzipped the bag, before taking out her pride and glory, her rocket launcher that she had named after her mother. She tossed it to Dante, who caught it and headed back to the opening

"Try this"

Dante fired a rocket and dived out of the way when one was returned. He handed the launcher back to Lady, as an explosion was heard

"Right, I'm gonna go finish it off. Hang tight"

Dante headed outside. A few minutes later, the others could hear steel clashing on tough skin and metal, gunshots, as well as Dante yelling obscenities. Five minutes passed until silence was heard and then a whooshing sound followed that, as Dante came running back into the house

"Let's go, now"

They burst out the house, just as two rockets struck the house and destroyed it

"No, not again," cried Lucia, "Alright, who was that?"

"Talk to him," answered Dante, pointing at an Infested Helicopter hovering above them, "He's the guy you might wanna see"

The Infested Helicopter faced them and fired another two rockets at them. Lady grabbed Kalina Ann and the bag of weapons, as everyone else ran. Dante and Lucia leapt up onto the rooftops of nearby houses, as Trish stayed with Lady, Nero and Nevan. The succubus flew up onto a house roof, before facing the Helicopter

"Let's see what this thing has got"

Bolts of lightning flew out from her body and struck the Helicopter, making it wobble in the air. However, it recovered and opened fire with its machine guns. Nevan turned into a cloud of bats and flew back down onto the streets, as Dante ran towards the Helicopter, shooting away at it. Nero fired a couple of shots and got a rocket in return. He dived out of the way and ended up joining Lucia on a rooftop

"Wow, I didn't know you could jump high," she said as she threw some daggers

Dante lunged at the Helicopter and began blasting the windscreen, as a rocket caught him in the chest and slammed him into the street, followed by a small explosion

"Dante!" cried Trish

The cloud of dust faded away. Dante was standing on his feet, but he was now in his demon form. He looked up at the Helicopter, before spreading his wings and shooting straight up. He drew his hand back, as a ball of lightning appeared

"Catch this!"

Dante threw a bolt of lightning, straight into the Infested, striking it in the eye. The Helicopter wavered about, as Dante flew forward and drew Rebellion, stabbing the Infested in the eye and separating it from the helicopter, which promptly crashed. The Infested, however, landed on a rooftop, as Dante came down and stabbed it through the back. The Infested screeched, before collapsing and fading away. Dante relaxed his powers, before sheathing Rebellion

"Alright, let's head out to the big city"

The group headed to the large gate, as Lucia opened it and granting them access to the city. They hadn't gone far when a rumbling ran throughout the place, as if an earthquake was happening

"What's going on?" asked Nero

"Beats me," answered Lady

A huge tower began to rise up in the distance, rising higher than the tallest skyscrapers. Dante saw the tower and moaned

"Oh no"

"What?" asked Nero

"Temen-ni-gru," Lady and Nevan answered at the same time

†††††††††††


	8. Nightmare

†††††††††††

"Is that good?" asked Nero

"Is it ever good when a giant tower suddenly appears and you know demons are behind it?" Dante asked him

"I take that as a no"

"But that means demons to kill, so let's get going"

The group began travelling to the Tower of Demons. They reached the outskirts of the city when a demon appeared before them, flying in the air

"Balthazar," growled Dante

"So, you got a little group to come and kill me?" asked Balthazar, "Well, it's a shame I would have to ruin the little party then. Ah, hello Nero"

"You know me?" asked Nero

"Of course I do. I know you as well as I know Dante and Vergil"

"How do you know me?" Nero demanded

Balthazar waggled his finger at him

"Don't let your temper get the better of you. Unlike last time"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dante

"Sorry, I have things to do right now and I can't spend anymore time here chatting to you. So long and enjoy my welcoming gift"

Balthazar flew away, as five goat-like creatures appeared. They were covered in black fur and had a goat's head and legs, while bat-like wings sprouted from their backs

"Abyss Goats," said Dante as he drew Rebellion, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Nero drew the Red Queen, Trish grabbed Alastor, as Lucia unsheathed her cutlaseers, while Lady had her guns ready and Nevan moved back to enjoy the show

Dante swung Rebellion at an Abyss Goat, but it flew out of the way, as a circle of energy appeared in front of it. Energy blasts rained down towards Dante, as he did a few back flips to get out of the way. Nero slashed at another Abyss Goat, as it did a back flip and kicked him in the chest, throwing him against a house wall. He groaned, as the Abyss Goat ran at him. He rolled out of the way and slashed the Abyss Goat on the leg, before spinning around and bringing the Red Queen down into the Goat's shoulder. It roared in pain, before sending him flying with a backhand, as Lady, Lucia and Trish took on their Abyss Goats. Lucia leapt into the air after hers and did a scissors kick, following by a spin kick, knocking it to the ground, as Trish countered her Goat's energy blasts with her lightning bolts. Lady was shooting at hers, as it flew around, dodging the bullets, until it caught a rocket in the chest, courtesy of Kalina Ann. Nero stabbed his Goat and twisted the Red Queen's handle like a motorcycle handle, before squeezing the brake-like leverage. The Goat was blasted off the Red Queen's blade and smashed through a lamppost and into someone's house

"Oh crap"

The Goat burst back out of the house and shot towards Nero, as Dante grabbed Cerberus and smacked his Goat in the face

"Now this is cool!"

He slammed Cerberus into the ground, as massive icicles appeared in a straight line and struck the Abyss Goat. Dante charged and began pulling off a variety of stylish moves, finishing with a move that encased the Abyss Goat in a block of ice. Dante gave the ice statue a tap and it careened over, shattering into a thousand pieces

"The name is Ice Cool," grinned Dante

Lucia did a flip axe kick onto her Goat's head, finishing it off, as Nero leapt up to dodge his Goat's attack and used his Devil Bringer to pick it up and slam it into the ground. Trish blasted her Goat with lightning, killing it, as Lady fired a rocket into her Goat's chest, blowing it up

"Nevan, enjoy the show?" asked Nero

"Sure did, cherry pie. Hmm, you fight as good as your brother"

"Yeah, anyhow, let's go," said Nero

The group continued towards Temen-ni-gru and turned into another street, where it was nothing but a large bare road. There were also six green-blue platforms lying in two lines of three. Dante noticed the discs looked familiar and inched closer

"Nero, you're coming with me. Girls, you stay here"

His eyes lingered on Trish and he saw that she knew what was happening next. It was at something similar on Mallet Island when Dante discovered Trish's true allegiance. But she had thrown all that away and he had forgiven her

"Girls? Excuse me, Dante?" started Lady

"Come on, Nero"

The two brothers walked closer to the platforms, as a wall of energy appeared, separating them from the women and blocking off Lady's protests

"Dante, what's happening here?"

"You'll see"

A strange substance began to appear before them, forming into something that resembled a small bullet train. Dark teal armour appeared on the creature, as it turned and faced the pair

"Long time, no see, Nightmare," said Dante

The bio-engineered creature didn't answer, as Dante drew Ebony and Ivory, twirling them around and pointing them at Nightmare

"What are you waiting for?"

Two small blue-white orbs appeared on Nightmare. Dante grinned and began shooting at the orbs, but then bullets were being fired from Nightmare like a machine gun. Dante and Nero leapt out of the way, as Nightmare rotated on the spot, still shooting at the pair, as they leapt around the place, avoiding the machine gun fire. The gunfire stopped, as Nightmare charged at Nero. He drew the Blue Rose and fired, but the bullets rebounded off Nightmare's armour. Nero rolled to his right, as Nightmare zoomed past, before turning around. Dante fired his shotgun at Nightmare's bare back, but his attack was a split second too slow, as the spray struck Nightmare's armour instead. The orbs appeared, as Nero used his Devil Bringer to grab onto Nightmare and pull himself close. Just as Nightmare began shooting at Dante, Nero swung the Red Queen and shattered an orb. A deep rumbling was emitted from Nightmare, as Nero was thrown off. A spear shot out of Nightmare's body, just missing Nero, while another spear struck Dante in the chest and threw him back against the wall. He shot at the bio-creature, but the bullets bounced off the armour, as green ooze began sliding off Nightmare's body and slithered over to Nero. He tried to crawl away, but the ooze slipped around his feet and tried to draw him towards Nightmare. Dante saw the move and leapt over, grabbed Nero by his left arm and ripping him away from Nightmare, as the ooze lunged out and wrapped around Dante instead, absorbing him into Nightmare's body

†††††††††††


	9. Separated: Fire Fight

†††††††††††

Dante landed on his feet and looked around. He knew where he was, having been inside Nightmare more than once before. Giant skulls appeared before him, their teeth chattering as they surrounded him

"Sargasso. I missed you guys"

A Sargasso lunged at Dante, but was blasted apart by his shotgun. Another Sargasso attacked from behind, but was also blasted apart by the shotgun

"How about this?"

Dante began using the shotgun like a nunchaku, spinning it around his body while pulling the trigger, until there were nothing left of the Sargassos except for broken and shattered bones lying around him. Smiling, Dante looked for a way to break out of Nightmare. However, something large was coming towards him. And as it got closer, it got bigger, until it towered over Dante

"Mundus"

The illusion of Mundus grinned, before slamming his mountain-sized fist into Dante, crushing him to the ground. Dante tried to get out, but Mundus held him down, grinning, as memories began flooding Dante

_"I'm going now, Dante. Be good. Look after Nero, Celeste and also your mother. Same to you, Vergil. Keep practising your sword techniques"_

"_Dante, Vergil. Get Nero and Celeste and hide"_

"_But, mother-"_

"_No buts. Just go"_

"_There she is. There is Eva. Kill her!"_

"_Don't let go, Dante"_

"_Help me, Nero!"_

"_Hang on, Vergil"_

"_Celeste, run!"_

"_Go, Nero, hide"_

"_Don't let me go, Dante"_

"_I can't hold on, Vergil…Vergil!"_

"_Dante!"_

"_Nero, Celeste, where are you? Daddy, help me"_

"_Die, worm"_

"_It shouldn't have been you"_

"_Shut up!"_

"_Jackpot"_

A hand was coming down towards Dante. But it wasn't Mundus'. Instead, this hand was gold with red streaks and ended in claws

"Come on, Dante, come on" 

Dante reached up and grabbed the hand. And as he did, he felt his pain slide away

†††††††††††

Nero pulled again and this time, fell away from Nightmare with Dante. The older half-demon was covered in ooze, while Nightmare was in a rage. One of its armour plates had been ripped away and there was now a Dante-sized hole in its side. It faced the pair and charged, but Nero raised the Blue Rose and fired, striking it in its weak spot. An angry noise was emitted from Nightmare and it melted down into green ooze, which quickly disappeared, as the lights on the platforms dimmed and the wall faded away

"Dante, are you okay?" cried Trish

She held Dante close to her, running a hand through his hair, as he gave her a hug

"I'm fine. You can let me go now, you're choking me"

She let him go, as he got up and faced his little brother

"Thanks for that"

"Oh dear, you defeated Nightmare," said a voice

All six looked up at Balthazar, as he hovered overhead. Balthazar folded his wings slightly so he landed amongst the group

"Now, this can't be much fun if you're all together"

"Yeah and how bright of you to drop in amongst us," said Dante, "Kinda stupid if you ask me"

"Well, I'm not asking you," said Balthazar, "Shall we play?"

Lady grabbed her two sub-machine guns and began firing at Balthazar, but he dodged her line of fire and backhanded her, as Dante and Nero lunged at the same time. Balthazar dodged their swords and kicked them down, as Trish, Lucia and Nevan attacked. Balthazar blasted them back with a shot of energy, before gathering a ball of energy between his hands

"Looks like I have to break up the party now"

He held out his hands, as the energy shot out from his hands, causing to dust to kick up, followed by a massive whirlwind, which lifted up the group and tossed them around, separating them from each other and sending them to different parts of the city. Dante was sent to the north, Nero down to the south, Trish out east, Lucia out west, while Lady was blown out to the northeast and Nevan was sent near to Temen-ni-gru

"There, all better now," said Balthazar

Smiling, he turned and flew back to Temen-ni-gru

†††††††††††

Nero struck the ground hard on his back and bounced a few times. He groaned in pain and got to his feet, still holding onto the Blue Rose. He took a look at his surroundings and shook his head, before leaving the alley. He saw Temen-ni-gru in the distance and began walking towards the giant tower

A small portal opened before him and deposited a frail demon before him. However, this demon was holding a very large coffin-like object and swung it at Nero. He jumped back, as the demon jammed one end of the coffin into the ground. The other end opened up, as spirits began floating around and forming mini Reaper demons before him. Nero raised an eyebrow. He knew what type of demons they were and nearly chuckled to himself

"Pride Demons? Don't make me laugh" 

A Pride Demon lunged at him and brought its scythe down overhead, as another two lunged at him. Nero shot the first demon in the head, turning it into dust, as his right arm extended out and knocked the other two back. The other two demons swung their scythes, as Nero grabbed the Red Queen and blocked both scythes, as the first two demons attacked again. Nero kicked a demon back and swung the Red Queen around, turning the other to dust. He blocked a demon's attack, before stabbing the other demon in the knees and swinging the Red Queen in an arc, sending the first demon into the air. He grabbed the demon with his Devil Bringer and slammed the demon into the ground and bringing the Red Queen down overhead through the last demon, turning it into dust. Sighing, Nero sheathed the Red Queen and turned away-

-As a giant column of flames appeared before him. Nero jumped back out of the way, as a gigantic creature appeared amongst the flames. Its skin was dark blue, although it looked almost black, while the horns protruding from its head were tipped with fire. The huge hammer the creature was carrying was also edged with flames

"A Furiataurus?" said Nero, "This could make things a little interesting"

The Furiataurus roared and charged Nero, who leapt into the air, drawing the Red Queen and bringing it down. The fire demon swung its head, catching Nero in the chest with the side of its left horn and knocking him down. Nero groaned in pain when he landed, as the hammer came down towards him. He rolled out of the way and got to his feet, before noticing a smashed car lying nearby

Nero dodged the wave of fire and headed towards the car, but the hammer slammed down in front of him. Nero leapt over the hammer, before using his Devil Bringer to pick the car up and hurl it at the Furiataurus. The fire demon roared and smashed the car with its hammer, sending it back at Nero. He leapt backwards out of the way, as the Furiataurus charged him. Nero grabbed the Blue Rose and fired off two shots, but it did little to deter it. It swung its hammer, just missing Nero by a hair, before creating a wall of fire around it. Nero grabbed another broken down car with his Devil Bringer and threw it through the wall and straight into the Furiataurus' head. It roared in pain, as the wall disappeared and Nero ran towards it. It slammed its hammer into the ground, as Nero sailed through the air and ran up the handle, before lunging at the Furiataurus and swinging the Red Queen, slashing through both eyes and blinding it. It roared, stumbling back and clutching at its eyes. Nero landed and grabbed another car, slamming it into the Furiataurus' chest. As the fire demon fell down from the blow, Nero charged forward and leapt up, bringing the Red Queen down and stabbing the Furiataurus through the chest. It gave one final roar, before fading away, leaving behind a glowing red ball of light. The ball shot towards Nero and struck him in the chest. It rested in his left hand, before growing smaller, but longer, forming an ordinary Bo Staff in his hand. But when Nero spun it around, waves of fire rolled off the staff. He performed a variety of moves with the fire staff, finishing off with a stance that had the staff behind his back. He smiled, enjoying his new weapon

†††††††††††


	10. Trish vs Phantom

†††††††††††

Dante opened his eyes and sat up, holding a hand to the back of his head

"Man, that landing wasn't so great"

He got to his feet and checked out his surroundings. He could see that Temen-ni-gru wasn't that far away and looked around for a quicker method of transport. But the only thing he saw was a group of Lust Demons shuffling their way towards him

"Ah, what the hell"

Dante Dashed towards them and drew Rebellion, sending one demon into the air, before jumping up after it and slamming Rebellion into its face, before slamming it into the ground. The demons turned into dust, as the rest of the demons attacked. Dante used a mixture of Rebellion, Cerberus, Ebony, Ivory and some stylish moves to defeat the demons, turning them all to sand, as a whooshing sound was heard, followed by an explosion. Dante turned towards the source and saw Lady running towards him, pursued by an Infested Helicopter. Lady tripped and fell over, as the Helicopter turned around, before training its guns on her. Dante whipped out his handguns and began shooting the Helicopter, distracting its attention, as Lady got to her feet and ran over to the devil hunter. She drew a sub machine gun and joined in the shooting, as the Helicopter turned around and fired two rockets. Dante wrapped an arm around Lady's waist, before leaping out of the way

"Man, why is it you always end up getting into trouble?" Dante asked

Lady pulled Dante down to the ground, as a rocket just missed them

"Why is it I always end up saving your ass?" she retaliated

She stood up and grabbed Kalina Ann, before shooting a rocket at the Helicopter, striking it in the cockpit and making it spin around. Dante began shooting at the exposed Infested. The Helicopter careened about, until Lady finished it off with Kalina Ann. The Helicopter crashed and exploded, destroying the Infested, as Dante put his guns away

"Come on, we have a job to do"

†††††††††††

Trish groaned in pain as she got to her feet. Picking up Alastor, she looked up and faced Temen-ni-gru, before heading towards it. She had a feeling that Dante would be heading there as well and hoped she would be able to meet up with him. She removed her hair band, before fixing up her hair and tying it up again

Sighing, Trish continued towards Temen-ni-gru, treading carefully in case anything decided to jump out and tried to kill her. She hated it when something like that happened to her. But then again, the shock would turn into adrenalin and she would kill the demon, but she preferred hunting with Dante. She hated it when she wasn't with him

A black orb appeared in the sky. Trish stopped walking and looked up at the orb, wondering what it could be. The orb shattered, releasing something large that fell down before her and roared

"Phantom!"

"Running off to meet up with dear Dante, are we, Trish?" growled Phantom

His scorpion-like tail arched over his body, as Trish drew Alastor

"Maybe. But what's it to you?"

"I wish to meet Dante once again. And maybe then I can kill him"

"He's defeated you so many times now. You might as well give up"

"Never. I serve Balthazar and I will serve him well. Die, traitor"

Phantom charged at her and swung his tail. Trish did a back flip, landing neatly on her feet, as Phantom stabbed the air with his tail. Trish dived out of the way to avoid the fireballs as they rained down, as Phantom began summoning towers of fire to rise up underneath the demoness, but she was able to avoid them as well, sending out bolts of lightning at the spider-like lava demon

Phantom charged and snapped his huge jaws at her, as she did a cartwheel to her right, before swinging Alastor. It struck Phantom's tough, rock-like skin and bounced off, but lightning jumped off the blade and struck Phantom, as his tail swung at her. Trish ducked, before jumping onto Phantom's back and stabbing at his exposed parts. Phantom roared and stabbed at her with his tail, before breathing jets of fire at her. Trish retaliated with her lightning bolts, but fire began raining down again. Phantom swung his tail and caught her in the stomach, ripping her shirt and throwing her through the air. Trish landed on her feet, as Phantom charged at her. She dodged his tail, before stabbing with Alastor, just as Phantom opened his mouth to bite her. The blade went deep into his mouth and down his throat, as lightning leapt around inside his maw and making his multiple eyes light up. Lava blood began running out of his mouth and pooling, as Phantom staggered around in pain and rage. Trish ran forward to finish him off, but a tower of fire exploded in front of her. She jumped back, as Phantom charged through the tower and snapped at her. She dived out of the way, before jumping onto his back and slashing again. This time, Phantom collapsed, as Trish jumped off and finished him off with a blast of energy. Phantom's body faded away, as Trish continued towards Temen-ni-gru. Fifteen minutes of walking passed before she saw a familiar face

"Lucia"

The half-demoness looked up from her finished fight and smiled when she saw Trish

"How are you feeling?"

"Uh, yeah, I'll be right. How about you?"

"Getting there. You seen the others yet?"

"No, but I guess they'll be near that tower over there"

"Well, let's get going"

The two women set off towards Temen-ni-gru, hoping to meet up with the others

†††††††††††

"Not so far now," said Nero

He was standing on top of a high building, having been chased up there by an Infested Helicopter. He destroyed the Helicopter and was now running across the building roofs, hoping it would take him to Temen-ni-gru faster and it had. Nero leapt across to the next building, but found six blue-green platforms in front of him, spread out in two columns of three

"Oh no"

Sure enough, a wall of energy appeared around him, as Nightmare appeared. Nero saw that the damage he had dealt to the bio-creature had been healed and the armour plate had been replaced

"Well, this could be fun"

He grabbed the Flame Staff and leapt at Nightmare, spinning the staff around as waves of fire licked Nightmare's body. The bio-creature responded by stabbing Nero with a spear made from its body. Nero struck the wall and fell, as Nightmare charged at him. He leapt out of the way and landed, before attacking again. Nightmare opened the hatches at both ends of its body and the air instantly felt chillingly cold. The flames on Nero's staff were doused, as the glow of his right arm disappeared. Nero drew the Blue Rose and shot Nightmare in one of the hatches, forcing it to close them up and open fire on him instead. Nero jumped about, avoiding the gunfire, but got too close to Nightmare and struck the wall again, blood dripping from a cut on his chest. His arm began to glow again, as Nero dew the Red Queen and charged. He dodged the spear and slashed, as a net fell around him. Nero looked up and saw Nightmare hovering above him. It didn't take him long to work out what Nightmare was about to do and how much it would hurt if the bio-creature landed on him, so he promptly began slashing through the net, just breaking out in time, as Nightmare came down with a heavy crash

Nero turned around and raised the Blue Rose, but felt a tug around his legs. He looked down and saw green ooze sliding around his feet. He was pulled down, losing hold of Blue Rose, as he was pulled towards Nightmare's body. Nero used his Devil Bringer to grab the Blue Rose and managed to let off a shot, but it wasn't enough and he was absorbed into Nightmare's body

†††††††††††


	11. Devil Trigger

†††††††††††

Dante and Lady turned around the corner and sprinted towards Temen-ni-gru. It wasn't far ahead now, only about another two hundred metres and they would be there. However, there was someone standing before them, blocking their path

"Vergil," said Dante

"That is Vergil?" asked Lady, "What happened to him?"

"He has been possessed. Okay, I'll distract him and you get to the tower. Wait there for the others, okay?"

"Alright"

Vergil drew Yadujt, as Dante drew Rebellion. The twins walked towards each other, as Lady slipped past them and continued towards the tower. Dante swung Rebellion, but Vergil blocked, as they broke away and circled each other

"Here we go again, Verge, but this time, I will save your soul"

"You could try"

"Oh, so we are talking now hey?"

Vergil shook his head

"Vergil can't talk. I'm talking through him"

"Balthazar. Are you possessing Vergil?"

"Maybe. Looks like you have to kill your twin if you want to kill me"

"I won't do that"

"Suit yourself"

Vergil swung his sword, as Dante blocked. They began fighting, sparks flying from the blades, until they broke apart and began circling again

"You're not possessing him," said Dante, "I know Vergil's style. You're simply speaking through him from a distance"

"Oh, you're so clever, Dante," said Vergil/Balthazar, "But how would you know that? I could be possessing him right now?"

"Then I will save him from you!"

Dante and Vergil clashed again, dancing around each other, as sparks flew. Vergil threw a couple of energy blasts, but Dante dodged them and slammed Rebellion against Yadujt. Vergil kicked Dante back and brought Yadujt overhead. Dante dodged and slashed, as Vergil whirled around and blocked. A phantom sword appeared, as Dante broke away and shattered the sword. More phantom swords were shot towards him, but Dante destroyed them, as Vergil came at him and slashed at his face

Dante blocked the blow and kicked Vergil in the chest. Vergil lunged forward and stabbed, but Dante did a Dash to his right and performed his own Stinger attack. Vergil disappeared and reappeared at a distance, before shooting more phantom swords. Dante ran towards his twin, dodging the swords, as their swords slammed against each other, sparking off a dance of sword and skill, until Dante brought his sword up and sent Vergil into the air. He followed and did a kick, followed by a back flip kick, as he brought Rebellion down. Vergil blocked and landed on his feet, before knocking Dante along the road with a Stinger move

Dante got to his feet, as Vergil smashed Yadujt against Rebellion. The twins were pushing hard against each other, as heat began to generate between the blades. Dante pushed hard and transformed, attacking Vergil with high-speed attacks with a lot of power behind them, making Vergil stumble about. Dante kicked him in the face, before doing a spin kick and a chop, but Vergil blocked the chop and pushed him back. Dante jumped back and shot a jet of energy out of his chest, but Vergil leapt over the energy beam and kicked Dante, before doing a spin kick and smashing him into a nearby house

†††††††††††

Nero got to his feet and looked around. He was in some unknown place, surrounded by a crowd of Sargasso. Shrugging his shoulders, Nero dispatched the Sargassos with ease, before turning away, only to see something coming towards him. Raising the Red Queen, Nero watched the object form into Balthazar

"What are you doing here?"

The illusion of Balthazar grinned, as he drew a massive sword with spikes running up and down the blade. He swung his sword and clashed it with the Red Queen. Nero used his Devil Bringer, as Balthazar stepped back and swung again. Nero went to block, but Balthazar had feinted the move. Instead, he ran his sword straight through Nero's stomach. The Red Queen fell to the ground, as Nero grabbed the blade and tried to rip it out, but Balthazar's grip was stronger. Memories began flooding Nero's mind as he struggled to remove the blade

"Don't move, kid, otherwise I'm gonna stick this into you" 

"_Daddy"_

"_Hang on, Nero, I'm coming"_

"_Hold still, kid"_

"_Stop, Balthazar"_

"_Dad!"_

"_Nero!"_

"_Take this, you bully"_

"_Aarrgh! You little brat!"_

"_Dad!"_

"_Run, Nero, run"_

"_Not without you"_

"_Just go, I'll handle him"_

"_Die, Sparda"_

"_I hate you, you big meanie. Leave my daddy alone"_

"_Nero, run like I told you to"_

"_No"_

"_You little brat. Die"_

"_Nero!"_

"_Dad!"_

"_Ha, take that, Sparda. You can't win now. You are just a human. You are no longer a demon. You will die tonight"_

Nero opened his eyes and looked at Balthazar. Rage was flooding his veins, as his blue eyes flashed red

"It was you. You killed Sparda. Now I'm gonna kill you!"

A bright white light covered both Nero and the illusion of Balthazar

†††††††††††

Nightmare was heading back to Balthazar, when pain rippled through it. The bio-creature stopped in its tracks, as light appeared inside of it. Nightmare was rumbling in pain, as a demonic creature burst out of Nightmare, effectively destroying the bio-creature. The demon landed and folded its bat-like wings, as it began to change, until it had become Nero. He took in a few deep breaths, unable to believe what he had just become. He had experienced his first Devil Trigger transformation

Nero looked up and saw a bright, blue ball of light hovering before him. He reached out and took it, as the light formed into a something that resembled a three-tongued blue whip. Grasping the whip in his left hand, Nero flicked his wrist, hearing the resounding _crack_, as ice shards flew through the air. Nero smiled and whipped his whip around the place, testing it out, as ice shards were flying everywhere. Nero finished the test by rolling the whip up in one hand and putting it away

"Cool"

†††††††††††


	12. Dante vs Vergil

†††††††††††

Dante sat up and shook his hair, the impact of flying through a wooden house having knocked him out of Devil Trigger. He grabbed Rebellion and got to his feet, as Vergil burst into the house and swung Yadujt at his head. Dante rolled away, before spinning stylishly onto his feet and turning around. Vergil brought Yadujt overhead, as Dante blocked, but got kicked back. Dante looked up, as Vergil underwent a transformation of his own. His cape split in half and formed into wings, as his armour turned white and gold, and his body changed into a demonic form

"Nice look, Verge, a lot better looking than the last one twenty years ago"

Vergil slammed Yadujt against Rebellion, knocking Dante down, before chopping again. Dante blocked, whipped out Ebony and pointed it at Vergil. He kicked Dante in the chest as the shot went wild, as Dante put his gun away, before countering Vergil's blow. He pushed him back, before attacking. Vergil and Dante continued their dance of sword, skill and style, until Dante ducked under Vergil's blade and swung Rebellion, putting a lot of strength into the move and blasting Vergil up through the ceiling. He leapt up after him and swung Rebellion, but Vergil blocked and leapt over the hole, before clashing Yadujt against Rebellion, just as Dante Devil Triggered

Vergil fell back from the energy waves, as Dante spread his wings and shot straight up, before curling his body up into a foetal position. Vergil watched, as Dante unleashed a blast of energy from his body. The beam shot at Vergil, who leapt over it, as Dante flew down and slammed into him. The twins struck the roof and bounced a few times, before spinning onto their feet and continuing the fight. Fireworks were exploding from their blades every time they clashed, as the twins used their skills to their fullest extent. Lightning bolts, fireballs, energy blasts and phantom swords flew through the air, as the Devil Trigger energy expired on both twins, Dante being the first, but Vergil was only a few seconds behind him

Vergil slashed and cut the cloth on Dante's right shoulder, as Dante stabbed and dented the armour on his left thigh. Spinning around, Vergil slashed Dante across the stomach, but the younger twin also spun around and slashed him across the back, putting a neat horizontal cut in his cape. Vergil summoned a phantom sword and threw it, but Dante shot it out of the air, before lunging and slamming Rebellion against Yadujt. Vergil teleported out of the way and attacked from behind, but Dante Dashed out of the way, before also teleporting in front of him. The twins began their sword dance again, as blood splattered the ground around them. Dante's top had many rips through it, while Vergil's armour had been dented many times

Vergil brought Yadujt overhead, as Dante blocked, but he saw that his older twin was charging up an energy blast. Just as Vergil swung his arm to throw the blast, Dante slammed his left palm into Vergil's chest, making him stumble back, as the energy blast spiralled away. Dante lunged forward and kicked, as Vergil swung high. Dante ducked and spun around, as Vergil gasped suddenly

He looked down and saw that Rebellion had pierced his armour, going through his stomach and out his back. Dante removed Rebellion, as Vergil fell. Turning around, Dante watched as the red glow faded away from Vergil's eyes and he dropped his sword, before kneeling beside his brother

"Vergil, can you hear me?"

"Dante…?"

"Yes, it's me"

"What…happened?"

Vergil swallowed

"So many…years…I've had…no control…over myself"

"Stop talking"

Dante watched as blood began pooling around Vergil

"Damn, you're bleeding to death. I'm not gonna lose you, not after this long"

"I can't…hold on…any longer"

"Yes you will. You're not leaving me, Verge. I promised to save you and I'm gonna do just that"

Dante sheathed Rebellion, before lifting up Vergil and leaping off the building

†††††††††††

"So, this is Temen-ni-gru?" said Trish, "Looks…old"

"I have heard of Temen-ni-gru when I was a child," Lucia said, "But I never thought I would ever see it"

"Well, now you're gonna see from the inside as well," Trish said, "Gotta stop Balthazar. Come on"

"Hey, wait up," cried a voice.

Trish and Lucia turned around, as Lady came running towards them, her sub-machine guns in her hands. She stopped before them, a little out of breath

"Are you okay?" Trish asked

"I'm fine. Just need to catch my breath but I'm fine"

"What did you see that made you run so fast?" Lucia asked

"Well, Dante's fighting Vergil and I just took out a giant monkey demon thing and man that wasn't easy!"

Lady then looked up at the demonic tower and groaned

"Not this bloody thing again!"

"Where's Nero?" Lucia asked

"Haven't seen him," Lady answered

"Alright, let's get this underway," cried a new voice

The women turned in the voice direction and saw Nero walking towards him. He punched his left palm and grinned, as he stopped before them

"Temen-ni-gru. The demon tower," he said, looking up at the tower, "No doubt Balthazar is waiting for us. Where's Dante?"

"He's a little preoccupied," Trish answered, "It's just us"

"Nero"

Nero turned around, as Kyrie and a group of the Order came running towards them

"Or not," Trish muttered to herself, before realizing who she was looking at, "You guys? You're the ones who stole Sparda from Devil Never Cry"

"Our apologies," said the leader of the group, not sounding apologetic

"Nero, who are these guys?" asked Lady

"This is Kyrie," Nero said, "This is Credo, her older brother, Agnus and Gloria"

He motioned to the leader of the group, a man with a hunched back and wearing a brown skullcap and a woman with dark skin and wearing minimal white clothing

"We shall help you infiltrate this tower and destroy Balthazar," Credo offered

"Thanks, Credo, but I think I can handle this," Nero declined

"Nevertheless, you will need our help if you want to take on the demon"

"Balthazar is kinda strong," said Trish, "He kicked Dante's ass a bit and we could use the help we can get"

"You know Dante?" Credo asked Trish, "Where is he? He has much to answer for"

"Haven't seen him in a long time," Trish said, "Let's get going"

The group and the Order entered the demonic tower and began the ascend to the demonic sacrificial chamber to stop Balthazar

†††††††††††


	13. Inside Temen ni gru

†††††††††††

Dante came down the stairs and headed to the lounge, where Vergil was still resting, his eyes closed and his breathing steady. Dante grabbed the bowl of bloodied water and bandages, taking them away into the bathroom, where he emptied the bowl and headed back out into the living room. Following the battle, Dante had taken an unconscious Vergil to Lucia's place and patched him up, while Vergil slept. Afterwards, Dante had changed his clothing and was now checking up on his twin…who was no longer lying on the lounge. Dante straightened, his body tense at first, but then he quickly relaxed when Vergil came down the stairs

"Dante"

"Vergil"

"How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. You?"

"Been better. What's new?"

"Demon trying to take over the world. Nothing new"

"Ah, Balthazar. Yes, he's quite the tricky demon"

"You were his lackey for like six months. Tell me about him"

Vergil glared at his twin, but answered nonetheless,

"Balthazar is a powerful demon who was once a servant of Mundus, along with Sparda. Over time, Balthazar became powerful and greedy. Mundus believed he would attempt to take his throne, so he imprisoned him in our world, where his powers would be diminished over time and render him powerful"

"Yeah, well, he's got a lot of power in him, so wanna tell me about that?"

"Balthazar was freed because Mundus believed he would need his help. They made a deal: Balthazar would help Mundus take over the human world in return of his full powers. Balthazar agreed and received most of his powers back"

"Sounds cool. How does he know about us exactly?"

"Balthazar is the one who killed Sparda all those years ago when we were children, before he had been imprisoned. He kidnapped Nero, who is the youngest, in an attempt to lure Sparda out. Balthazar also had a knife that could drain the powers out of a demon or a half-demon. I'm guessing the knife didn't get to drain all of Nero's demonic powers, as he has the Devil Bringer, which would have been caused by influence of demonic energy"

"Yeah, I knew that. I did a little background research on Nero"

"And right now, Balthazar would be attempting to open the portal to the demon realm and unleash Hell here in the human world"

"Well, let's get going then"

"I have no clothing"

Dante headed upstairs and was gone for about five minutes, before returning with clothes similar to what Vergil had worn twenty years ago. Vergil accepted them and put them on, as Dante held out Yamato. Vergil gazed at his sword, longing appearing in his eyes

"I found this amongst the wreckage at Mallet Island," Dante said, "And I had a feeling that someday, you would come back and claim it. Here"

Dante handed Yamato to Vergil. The eldest half-demon accepted his sword and drew it slowly, gazing at the blade and seeing it was still very sharp. Vergil smiled as the light shined off the blade and sheathed it, as Beowulf appeared on Dante. He took the greaves and gauntlets off and handed them to his twin

"I believe that is yours. I have my own set"

Vergil put the armour on and watched as it was absorbed into his body

"Come, Dante, let's go and stop Balthazar"

"Good to have you back, bro"

†††††††††††

Demons just kept coming, but they kept getting cut down, as Nero, Trish, Lady, Lucia and the Order of the Dragon fought against them. Goatlings were shooting energy blasts, which Trish was countering with her lightning bolts, while Nero was battling against several scarecrow-like demons that had a curved blade in place of an arm or a leg. The Order were fighting against black wolf-like demons that had a fiery orange face and stomach and seemed to spark electricity from their fur, while Lady and Lucia were battling against the seven deadly sins, taking them down with bullets and knives. Once the battle was over, Credo made his way towards Nero

"We should split up. That way, we could find Balthazar faster"

"Maybe that would be something that Balthazar would want," Nero said

"Nonsense. He wouldn't be expecting it"

"Fine. Whatever. Lady, Trish and Lucia, you stay together"

"Yeah, okay then," Lady answered, "This place has changed since I was last here"

"Gloria, get the Order together," ordered Credo, "We're heading out"

"Kyrie's coming with me," Nero said

"Excuse me? She is my sister and with us, she had much better protection"

"Yeah, but I'm sure I'm the one she would trust more"

"Kyrie, who do you wish to travel with?" Credo asked her

"I'll go with Nero"

"Very well, as you wish. Order, let's go"

Credo and the Order left the room, as Nero and Kyrie headed through another door and the women went through a third door. Nero and Kyrie continued their ascend through Temen-ni-gru, hardly coming across any problems, except for a few scarecrow demons and Goatlings

"Man, where the hell is this chamber?" Nero asked after he had just killed a group of wolf-like demons

"I don't know," Kyrie answered, as she cautiously opened another door

Nero joined her and they stepped out into an open space courtyard. Nero headed towards the edge and looked down at the ground, which was very far away. A drop from his height would be fatal. He looked back at Kyrie, who was looking up at the top of the tower

"So full of dark power," she said

"And I'm gonna stop it," Nero said, "I'm gonna destroy Balthazar before he can unleash Hell"

"But what about Dante?" Kyrie asked

"What about him?"

"Wouldn't he be helping Balthazar if he is against us?"

"Dante's not against us. He's fighting against Balthazar as well"

"How can you be sure about that? He came in and killed several of our members"

"Dante is good. There is a reason why he did that, but he hasn't told me yet"

"And if he did, would you believe him?"

"Possibly. After all, he is my brother"

Kyrie gasped

"How did you know about that?"

"Wait, you knew?"

Kyrie lowered her eyes

"Kyrie, did you know Dante was my brother?"

"Yes. We all did. That's why we took you in, because you were a son of Sparda"

"So, how come you never told me Sparda was my father?"

"Nero, please, you have to understand. We thought it was for your own good"

Nero's gaze went past Kyrie's shoulder, as Agnus appeared behind her. But he didn't come through the door. Instead, he had appeared like he had teleported. And he was holding a large sword

"Kyrie, look out," Nero cried

It was too late as Agnus grabbed Kyrie and held the sword to her throat

"Let her go," Nero demanded

"No. I cannot keep Credo waiting any longer. And Balthazar isn't nice to be around when he's angry"

The words finally clicked in Nero's head

"You're in league with Balthazar!"

†††††††††††


	14. Betrayal

†††††††††††

"You're in league with Balthazar!" Nero cried

"As we all," Agnus said

"How and why?"

"We were gonna to open the portal to the demon realm and gain Sparda's powers to eradicate the demons in this world, but Dante put a stop to that," Agnus said, "Not long afterwards, Balthazar appeared before Credo and offered him power if we fought by his side. Credo only accepted if he received enough demonic power to rival Dante's. Balthazar accepted and we all received demonic powers"

"So what has Kyrie got to do with this?" Nero demanded, "She didn't accept, did she?"

"Kyrie wasn't at the meeting between Credo and Balthazar," Agnus explained, "But Balthazar needs a sacrifice to open the portal to the demon realm. The blood of a virgin who is linked to the original virgin that closed the portal. We couldn't find the one strain that opened it twenty years ago, but we discovered that Credo and Kyrie are another strain of the link"

"And let me guess, Credo didn't want to be the sacrifice, not that he now has power?"

"Indeed. And he was more than willing to have Kyrie be used as the sacrifice"

"That bastard. I knew he was cruel, but I never knew him to be heartless"

"Now, if you don't mind, Kyrie and I have to go," Agnus said

He smiled and disappeared through the door, as Nero quickly gave chase. Agnus led him into a large room with only three windows that were about sixty feet high. Agnus turned around, as Kyrie struggled to get out of his grip. He pressed his sword closer to her throat

"I'd let her go if I were you," Nero said, "You've got nowhere to go"

"So you think"

Armour suddenly appeared on Agnus' body, covering him completely like a knight. Kyrie tried to use the distraction to get out of his grip, but Agnus struck her on the head with the butt of his sword and knocked her out

"Kyrie!" Nero cried, starting for them

CRASH!

The windows shattered, as similar knights appeared. These knights each had three pairs of beetle-like wings attached to their backs and were carrying either swords or lances. Nero looked back at Agnus, as wings folded out from his back and he took off into the sky

"Kill him," Agnus ordered

The knights flew down, as Nero drew the Red Queen. A knight raised his sword, but Nero stabbed him through the chest, before blocking another knight's strike and throwing him aside. A third knight received a kick to the chest, throwing him against the wall, as Nero spun around and blocked a fourth knight's chop, throwing him aside, as two knights with lances struck at the same time. Nero was able to grab their lances under his arms and cast them aside, before leaping through the air. The two remaining knights went to attack, but Nero pushed through them and reached out for Kyrie, as Agnus continued flying towards the windows

"Kyrie!"

Agnus swung his sword and struck Nero down, before flying out through the window. Nero hit the floor hard, as his sword flew from his hand. A couple of surviving knights headed towards him, but Nero got to his feet and grabbed the Blue Rose

"Take this"

He fired two bullets into a knight's face and dodged another knight's thrust, before shooting him in the face as well and grabbing the Red Queen. The rest of the knights attacked at once, but with one sweep of his sword in similar fashion to Dante; Nero fell them all at once. He dropped the Red Queen and fell to his knees, before punching the ground with his right fist in rage

"Nooooooooo! Kyrie!"

†††††††††††


	15. Dante vs Bolverk

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"Temen-ni-gru," said Vergil

"Brings back old memories doesn't it?" Dane asked

Vergil didn't answer, as a group of Abyss demons materialized before them

"It seems we have company"

"A welcoming committee. How nice," Dante grinned as he drew Rebellion

Vergil rested his hand on Yamato's hilt, as the twins made their way towards the demons. One of the Abysses snarled and swung its scythe, throwing a magical blast towards the twins. Vergil drew Yamato and sliced the blast in half, as three Abysses magically appeared out of the ground in front of them. Dante leapt up and swung Rebellion, throwing the Abysses away, as the rest of the Abysses raced forth

Vergil blocked an Abyss and sliced through its back, before batting a scythe aside, spinning around and stabbing a third Abyss. He then turned back and sliced the other Abyss in half, as Dante slammed an Abyss against the wall with a Stinger, following up with a Prop Shredder and finally shooting the Abyss through the chest with the shotgun. The Abyss slumped over and disappeared, as the rest of the Abysses attacked

Vergil dodged a scythe and smacked the Abyss in the chest with the hilt of Yamato, before unsheathing his sword and slicing through the demon, while Dante sent an Abyss into the air and leapt up after it, bringing Rebellion down overhead and slicing the Abyss into complete halves. Dante landed and holstered Rebellion, as Vergil flicked the blood off his sword and sheathed it

"Come on, let's go," said Vergil

The twins entered Temen-ni-gru and were instantly shocked at how the tower had changed in the last twenty years. Nothing looked the same anymore

"Oh damn," said Dante, "This isn't gonna fun"

Something dropped down from the air and landed with a _clang_, before rolling towards the twins. Dante didn't know what it was, until he saw the large blades surrounding the object and quickly drew Rebellion, clashing it against the object. It flew up and unfolded into a demon with curved blades coming out of its shins and forearms. Just as it landed, Vergil appeared behind it and sheathed Yamato. The demon fell apart into halves, as Dante sensed a familiar demonic energy and looked up. Bolverk was standing on a ledge, with his pet white wolves standing on either side of him

"Vergil, you go and find the sacrificial chamber. See if you can stop Balthazar"

"And let me guess: you're gonna stay here and fight Bolverk?"

"Yeah, something like that"

"Very well then"

Vergil headed off and disappeared through a door, as Bolverk and his wolves leapt down across from Dante. The half-demon placed the tip of Rebellion against the floor and grinned, as the wolves inched towards him, growling menacingly

"Well, come on then, join in, don't be such a social outcast"

The wolves lunged. Dante kicked Rebellion up and stabbed the blade through the throat of one wolf, while drawing his shotgun and firing both barrels point blank into the face of the other wolf. The wolves faded away, as Bolverk floated towards Dante and swung his sword. Dante dodged it and stabbed, but Bolverk brought his sword back and blocked the blow, before swinging Rebellion aside and stabbing. Dante was just able to block it, but he was thrown back through the air

Rolling onto his feet, Dante blocked Bolverk's chop, before pushing Bolverk's sword away and slashing wide. Bolverk moved away from the slash, as he thrusted his left hand towards Dante. Dark energy flew off his hand, into the ground and streaked towards Dante. The half-demon leapt out of the way, as Bolverk appeared in front of him and slashed. Dante struck the wall and fell to his feet, as Bolverk came flying down, sword ready to chop. Dante dived out of the way and kicked Bolverk in the back, slamming him against the wall, before stabbing. Bolverk rolled away and sliced at Dante's face, but missed, as Dante grabbed his shotgun and fired a barrel into his chest. Bolverk threw a dark energy blast, throwing Dante across the room, before floating towards him

Dante jumped over Bolverk's sword and brought Rebellion down, but Bolverk blocked the strike and swung, throwing Dante to the ground. The half-demon rolled away from Bolverk's chop and swung Rebellion around, just missing Bolverk. The two both did a Million Stab move at the same time, blocking each other's blows, as Dante Devil Triggered and spread his wings, before flying straight up. Bolverk leapt after him, but Dante threw Rebellion at him, slamming him against the floor. Rebellion flew back into Dante's hands and he dived, impaling Bolverk through the chest and pinning him to the floor. Bolverk didn't let out a cry of pain, as his body began to crumble. Dante removed Rebellion from his chest, as Bolverk's body completely dematerialised. All that was left of the demon was his large sword.

Dante holstered Rebellion, before grabbing Bolverk's sword. Dark energy appeared around the blade, as Dante began performing an array of moves with the weapon. Dark energy was flying from the blade, as Dante twisted his wrist and sent a projectile of dark energy flying. Driving the tip into the ground, Dante was able to summon the two wolf-like spirits. He removed the sword from the ground, as the wolves faded away

"Now, this is too cool"

Accepting the weapon, Dante looked around for the door that Vergil went through, before coming with an idea

†††††††††††


	16. The Sacrificial Chamber

†††††††††††

"Is everything ready?" Balthazar asked

"Everything is complete according to your standards," Credo answered

"Has Agnus arrived with Kyrie yet?"

"No"

"Shame"

The door burst open and Agnus came in, carrying an unconscious Kyrie. He laid her in the centre of the kneeling knights, as Balthazar smiled

"Or not. Now, let's begin"

Credo and Agnus stood back, as Balthazar stepped into the ring and drew Sparda. He drove the legendary sword into the lock, before removing a small vial of blood from his pocket. Balthazar uncapped the vial and dribbled Vergil's blood over the lock, as Kyrie began to stir. Holding his hand out to her, Balthazar encased Kyrie in a red energy bubble, keeping her unconscious, as the kneeling knights began to chant. Balthazar drew a small knife and made a cut in his left hand, adding his blood to the lock. Suddenly, the doors burst open and Trish, Lady and Lucia entered the room

"Hi, how's it going?" Trish asked

"And as if on cue, the heroes arrive in the nick of time to save the day," Balthazar said, rolling his eyes, "Credo, kill them"

The knights got up from the ground and drew their swords, as armour appeared and covered each and every one of them. Agnus and Credo stayed back, as the knights rushed towards the three women. Trish sent a knight flying as she did a spin kick onto another knight, while Lucia dodged a sword and cut the knight down, before throwing a dagger into the throat of another knight. Lady kicked a knight in the chest and drew Agni and Rudra, blocking another knight's sword and slashing him across the stomach

Balthazar grabbed his knife and headed towards the unconscious Kyrie. Just as he was about to plunge the knife into her, a rocket went flying past and just missed his head. Balthazar glared at Lady, before using his telekinesis to rip Kalina Ann away from her hands. Lady grabbed her sun-machine guns and began firing, as Nero entered. He saw that Balthazar was occupied with Lady, while Kyrie was trapped in an energy bubble. He ran towards her, as something slammed into him and sent him flying. Nero got to his feet and drew the Red Queen, as Credo stood in his way, armour covering his body, except for his head, and a sword similar to the Red Queen in his hand

"So, you've gone against honour and sided with a demon, eh?" Nero said, "And you're even willing to sacrifice your little sister to gain the power you've always wanted"

"Like the power you have?" Credo said, "This power that I will gain will be much stronger than yours, Nero. I will have the powers of Sparda and after that, no one can stop me"

"You know these demonic powers are corrupting you, right?"

"What about you and your demonic powers?"

"I am a son of Sparda. I was born with these powers. Yours were simply given to you"

"So you finally know the truth about your heritage"

"Took me a long time to figure it out. Only when I took the dive into a bio-engineered demon, that's when I found the truth"

"In a demon? You found the truth inside a demon? How could you know it was true?"

"Kyrie confirmed it"

"Ah, I see. Well, Nero, it was a pleasure knowing you"

Credo swung his sword overhead, but missed, as Nero dodged to the left and slammed his demonic fist into his face. Credo stumbled back and swung his sword, as Nero ducked under the blade and landed an uppercut on his jaw

"Agnus, a little help would be nice," Credo demanded

Swords suddenly appeared in Agnus' hands and he threw them towards Nero. He drew the Red Queen and knocked the swords aside, as Credo lunged forth with a Stinger attack. Nero blocked the blow and elbowed Credo in the face, before dodging another three swords from Agnus. Whirling around, Nero sent Credo flying with his Devil Bringer, before heading towards Agnus. The weapons-maker kept summoning swords and throwing them at Nero, but he struck them aside, as Agnus drew his large sword. Nero ducked the wide slash and drove the Red Queen upwards

As the Red Queen broke through Agnus' armour and split his flesh, Nero twisted the handle and grabbed the brake. A red glow appeared around the blade and blasted Agnus off the blade. He slammed against the wall, as Nero turned around to face Credo

"You're going down, Nero," Credo said, "You can't win against us"

Nero looked over and saw that Balthazar was now occupied with Trish, while Lady and Lucia were battling against Goatlings, Blades and Sin Scissors

"Oh, I doubt that"

Credo struck with a Stinger, but Nero parried the blow and swung the Red Queen back, but Credo dodged the blade and kicked Nero in the face. The half-demon whirled around and blocked Credo's overhead strike, before kicking him in the stomach and sending him flying with the Devil Bringer

Credo got up, as wings appeared on his back. He flew at Nero and grabbed him, before slamming him against the wall. Nero dropped the Red Queen, as Credo picked him up and slammed his fist into his stomach. Nero hissed in pain, as Credo punched him, before throwing him across the chamber

"You will lose, Nero. Don't bother fighting us. You can't win," Credo said as he walked over

"Oh yeah?"

The Nightmare whip appeared in Nero's right hand. He swung the whip and wrapped the end of it around Credo's neck. Ice immediately appeared and froze Credo's neck, as Nero flicked his wrist. A snapping sound was heard, as Credo was spun through the air. Nero walked over to him and saw that his neck had been broken. Grabbing the Red Queen, Nero ran towards Kyrie and gently removed her from the bubble, as Balthazar pushed Trish away and turned around

"Don't you dare?" Balthazar growled, knocking Trish aside again and walking towards him

Nero held Kyrie close to him, as he drew the Blue Rose and aimed at Balthazar. He squeezed the trigger, shooting Balthazar in the chest. The demon stopped momentarily, as Nero emptied the Blue Rose into him. Balthazar looked up from his bullets wounds and smirked

"You think that can stop me?"

"No, but I think I can"

Balthazar whirled around to face the door, as did everyone else. Vergil was standing in the doorway, holding Yamato by his side, as Beowulf appeared on his body

"Wanna play, Balthazar?" Vergil asked

†††††††††††


	17. Vergil vs Balthazar

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"Yee-hah, let's go baby!" Dante cried

He was riding through the hallways of Temen-ni-gru on his custom made motorcycle. Trish and Lady had made the vehicle for him a month after Mallet Island and gave to him for his birthday. The motorcycle was made to be light and fast, with a pair of guns built into the front and a pair of blades built into the side under the motor. The vehicle had also been enhanced with some demonic powers to make it faster than normal. And Dante absolutely loved it

A group of Pride demons appeared in front of him, as Dante grinned. He pressed a small button, bringing the guns out, before pressing the trigger button. The Pride demons were ripped apart the bullets and as Dante reached them, they had all turned to dust

Dante swung the bike around a corner and came to a stop, before sniffing the air slightly. He caught Trish's scent and raced off towards it, riding higher and higher into Temen-ni-gru. Goatlings appeared and landed on the ground, as Dante popped the blades out and reared the bike up onto its back wheel, riding through the Goatlings and slicing them all in half

"Yeah, that's right, you'll think twice before messing with m-"

A large coffin swung out of nowhere and cut Dante off, knocking him off his bike, which continued on for a bit before falling over. Dante rubbed his nose and got to his feet, as a Greed demon appeared and placed the coffin on the ground. Spirits flew out of the coffin and formed into Pride and Lust demons, as well as a Hell Vanguard, several Abyss demons and a group of Blades

"Oh well, let the fun begin," Dante said as he drew Rebellion

†††††††††††

"You think you can take me on, Vergil?" Balthazar asked, "You fall prey easily to my mind control. And I know you can't fight it"

Balthazar reached out and attempted to use mind control on Vergil, but the eldest half-demon shook it off

"Nice try, Balthazar. Surely you could do something better than that?"

Balthazar growled and drew his large, spiked sword, as Vergil came closer. Balthazar swung at Vergil's chest, but Vergil ducked the blade and slammed his fist into Balthazar's stomach. The demon hissed in pain, as Vergil punched him in the face, before doing the Rising Sun move, lifting Balthazar into the air. Turning around from the move, Vergil grabbed Yamato and slashed, but Balthazar blocked it and landed. Vergil came down and slashed, as Balthazar blocked, holding him into the air

Vergil began slashing rapidly while still in mid air, as Balthazar blocked his strikes and swung hard, sending him flying across the room. Vergil rolled through the air and landed on his feet, as Balthazar rushed him with a Stinger. Vergil teleported behind him and came down with a Starfall kick, slamming Balthazar against the wall. The demon whirled around and elbowed Vergil in the chest, before swinging his sword

Vergil blocked and spun around, slashing at Balthazar's neck, but the demon dodged the blade and kicked Vergil in the chest, throwing him towards the lock. Vergil spun around and blocked Balthazar, as the pair began a sword dance. Vergil was using all of his skills and swordsmanship, swinging Yamato hard and fast, while Balthazar was using his full demonic strength to keep up with the half-demon

"You're not gonna win, you know?" Balthazar said in between blows

"You always seem to say that when you're losing. Funny isn't it?" Vergil asked

He slashed wide with Yamato, throwing Balthazar into the air, as phantom swords appeared around in a circle. Vergil sheathed Yamato, as the sword began to glow purple. Balthazar got to his feet and lunged at Vergil, as he slid back and gripped Yamato. The phantom swords suddenly appeared around Vergil's shoulders, all aimed at Balthazar, as Vergil did the Judgement Cut move. Balthazar struck the far wall, blood running down his chest, but he got to his feet, as Vergil walked over to him

"Is that all you got?" Balthazar asked

He caught Vergil in his telekinesis and lifted him up, slamming him against the ceiling, then the walls, the ceiling again and finally the floor. Vergil got to his feet, as a blast of energy struck him in the chest and sent him flying through the air, slamming against the wall. He looked up as Balthazar appeared before him

"I'm disappointed in you, Vergil"

Balthazar raised his sword, as something slammed into him. Balthazar got to his feet and saw that it was Nero in his demonic form

"Finally tapped into your hidden powers, eh? Too bad you don't have much"

Sure enough, Nero returned to human form, his demonic energy used up. Balthazar smirked and drew his knife

"See? It's the same knife I used on you all those years ago. The one that gave you your scar on your shoulder, right?"

Vergil suddenly appeared next to Balthazar and grabbed the knife, ripping it away from his hands, before smashing the blade against the floor. Energy appeared and floated up, before shooting towards Nero and entering his body. Nero groaned as his full demonic powers were returned to him

"Flashy," Balthazar said

He backhanded Vergil, knocking him down, as Nero drew the Red Queen and lunged. Balthazar parried the blow and threw Nero against the wall, before heading towards the lock. He grabbed Credo's body and held him over the lock

"I may not be able to use Kyrie, which would have been cool, but I can at least use Credo. That's all he can do for me now"

Vergil and Nero got to their feet and ran towards Balthazar. Vergil teleported and grabbed Yamato, ready to slash, but Balthazar had run his sword against Credo's throat, splitting the skin and running his blood over the lock. Balthazar dropped the body and blocked Vergil's attack, before kicking Nero back. The chamber began to shake, as the platform Nero, Vergil and Balthazar were on began to move

"Let's go all the way to Hell," Balthazar grinned

The doors burst open and Dante rode through on his motorcycle, before seeing that the platform had started to rise

"Oh man, did I miss out on the fun?"

†††††††††††


	18. Sons of Sparda

†††††††††††

Dante saw Trish, Lady and Lucia still battling against demons, as his brothers and Balthazar continued fighting on the rising platform. Dante gunned the engine and raced towards the platform, drawing Cerberus and using it as a grappling hook to pull himself up onto the platform just before it reached the opening, leaving the bike behind. Dante drew Rebellion, as Balthazar looked around at him

"Not you too!"

"Sorry, me too," Dante smirked

Energy appeared around Balthazar's sword and it split into identical swords. Balthazar gripped both swords, as Vergil and Nero lunged at the same time. Balthazar knocked them aside and spun around, blocking Rebellion, as Dante followed through and punched Balthazar in the face, before whirling around and slashing wide. Balthazar ducked under the blade, while blocking Nero, before kicking Dante back and deflecting Vergil's thrust. Nero grabbed the Nightmare whip and snapped it towards Balthazar, wrapping the end around his left wrist. Pulling hard, Nero spun Balthazar through the air, but the demon turned around in mid air and kicked him in the face, before spreading his wings and blocking Vergil when he appeared in mid air before him

Balthazar pushed Vergil away, as the Nightmare whip wrapped around his ankle. Balthazar threw an orb of energy at Nero, slamming him against the platform, as Dante leapt up in a ball of fire. He kicked Balthazar in the chest, flames licking the steel armour, before grabbing the shotgun. Balthazar struck Dante in the head with the flat side of his sword, as Nero and Vergil leapt up, Devil Triggering at the same time. Dante did the same before he struck the platform, spreading his wings and flying up at Balthazar again. Vergil's form was similar to Dante's, except he was electric blue and his body was leaner and sharper, while Yamato was attached to his left forearm and he had two pairs of wings

Balthazar battled against the three demonic brothers, as the platform kept rising past the summit of Temen-ni-gru for another hundred metres. The sky turned orange, as black clouds floated above, sending down angry purple lightning bolts. Blood Gargoyles were flying around the top of Temen-ni-gru, as Balthazar and the sons of Sparda kept fighting. Sparks were flying from their blades, as fireballs began raining down from the sky, as Abyss Goatlings and Griffin joined the Blood Gargoyles

Nero struck the platform, one of Balthazar's swords sticking out of his chest. He groaned and removed the sword, as he returned to his human form. He looked up and saw that Dante and Vergil were still in their demon forms as they battled Balthazar. He looked over and saw that the Sparda sword was still embedded into the lock. Getting to his feet groggily, Nero headed over to the lock and grabbed Sparda, as Balthazar saw him and pushed the twins away, before flying down

Power began flooding Nero's veins, as he swung Sparda and blocked Balthazar, before throwing him aside. Balthazar flipped onto his feet and clicked his fingers. Several demonic Order knights appeared, along with a Hell Vanguard, as the Blood Gargoyles came flying in. Dante and Vergil turned back to their human forms and came flying down at Balthazar, as Nero began fighting against the knights and demons. Balthazar batted Dante aside and turned to Vergil, as a lava-hardened rock slammed into his chest and knocked him down. Balthazar looked up and saw Vergil lowering a large, dark orange rocket launcher-like gun

"What the hell?" Dante cried, "You don't even use guns!"

"I got this after defeating Phantom while you were fighting Bolverk," Vergil calmly said, "I also have another trick up my sleeve"

The Phantom cannon disappeared, as a large purple guitar appeared on Vergil. He struck the strings, sending out a shockwave that blasted Balthazar over the edge

"So that's what happened to Nevan?" Dante said, "You bitch, that's mine"

"Mine now, brother," Vergil smirked, as Balthazar came flying back up

"Fair enough," said Dante as he holstered Rebellion and drew Bolverk's sword

Balthazar dodged Dante's slash and blocked Vergil, before kicking him down and heading towards Nero, who had his back turned to him. Dante lunged, but Balthazar whirled around and impaled him on his sword, before kicking him back. Nero turned around, as Balthazar used telekinesis to rip Sparda away from his hands and blocked Vergil, before kicking Nero in the chest and dodging Yamato, as Dante removed the sword from his stomach. Balthazar blocked Vergil and Nero at the same time, pushing them aside and using the Stinger move on Vergil, extending the blade of Sparda out into a spear. Dante got up and grabbed his handguns, before letting off volleys towards Balthazar. The demon dodged the bullets and struck Dante with a Stinger, as Nero punched Balthazar with his demon fist and swinging the Red Queen towards his throat. Balthazar stopped the strike with telekinesis, before throwing Nero through the air. Dark energy raced along the ground towards Balthazar and began spiking up. He leapt over the spikes, as two wolf-like spirits slammed into him. Balthazar threw the wolves over the edge, before summoning the Abyss Goatlings to attack. Griffin flew overhead and began sending down red bolts of lightning, as the Goatlings struck. Dante, Vergil and Nero fought against the Goatlings and dodging Griffin's lightning bolts, as Balthazar lifted Sparda into the air and began chanting under his breath. The clouds began to part, as a black portal appeared in the sky and sent down an orange beam of energy around Balthazar. He smiled, as he was lifted by the beam and went hurtling towards the portal. Dante began shooting after him, but missed as Balthazar slipped inside the portal. The brothers finished fighting the Goatlings, as Griffin soared away. They walked over to the beam and looked up at the portal

"Balthazar is in there, waiting for us," said Nero, "I've never been to the demon realm before. This would be interesting"

"I don't think that's the portal to the demon realm that we know of," Vergil said to Dante

"You mean, there's more than one demon dimension"

"Of course there is, you fool"

Dante grinned and lifted Rebellion onto his shoulders

"So, what are we waiting for? We've got ourselves a whole new demon realm to explore. Let's get cracking"

"Dante"

The brothers turned around to see Trish, Lady, Lucia and Kyrie reaching the top of Temen-ni-gru. Kyrie saw the portal and gasped

"He's opened the door to the demon world," she said

"Yeah, we know and we're going in to stop Balthazar and close it down," said Nero

"Are you all going in?" Lady asked

"Damn right we are," Dante answered, "Have fun here"

"You don't want us coming with you?" Trish asked

"No. I want you all to stay here and try to send the demons back to their world from here, okay?"

Trish nodded

"We can do that"

She walked forwards, as Dante wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, before planting a kiss on her lips. She broke away and rejoined the other women, as Nero looked at Kyrie. She had worry and sadness in her eyes

"I'm coming back"

"I know you will"

"Let's go," said Vergil

He stepped into the beam and was lifted up towards the portal. Dante was next to follow him and then finally Nero, entering the demon realm, as the women turned and began the descend

"They'll be fine," Lady said

"I know they will," Trish said, "But we can't keep worrying about them. We've got our problems to deal it. As Dante would say, let's get this party started!"

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End file.
